Rain Drops
by Angel of Hope1
Summary: As the digidestined grow up, they begin to face increasing obsticals as passions, relationships, and past mistakes explode into the open. Mainly Takari and some Sorato.
1. Beginnings

            Disclaimer: OK, you know the basic drill.  Not mine, don't claim that they're mine, I make no money off this, or in general.  If I owned them, that would be different, but it isn't.  I also don't own "Crash into Me," that would be Dave Matthews Band, or "Brown Eyed Girl," I'm using Everclear's version, or any other songs that may come up.  Ages are going to be a bit hard to explain in this, since I'm making the argument that even though time didn't really move in the real world in 01, the kids in the digital world still aged at the normal rate in their.  Also, I'm guessing that they were there for about a year and a half, total.  Thus, TK would be about half a year older than Kari, since he went to the digital world first.  Also, this fic can be fairly morbid at times.  Just warning you.  Enjoy. 

Chapter 1

            TK stared out of the window of the apartment he and his mother shared, watching the rain fall on the city of Odiaba.  A slight sigh escaped his lips as he sat on the floor next to the glass door leading out to the balcony.  To say he was board would be an understatement.  It had been raining since ten last night and it wasn't showing any signs of letting up.  There wasn't any chance of going to the park, since by now it would be one giant mud pit.  He had already tried Cody and Yolei, but Cody had kendo practice, and Yolei was helping her parents at their convenience store.  The older digidestined were all busy as well.  Davis had soccer practice with Ken, so both of them were out and he still couldn't find Kari.

            Kari.  Even just thinking her name in passing caused TK's heart to flutter.  TK had met the brown-haired angel of light during the Digital Wars against Myotismon.  The two had become fast friends and even at the tender age of eight, the two had developed an almost unbreakable bond.  Their bond had only deepened as the two had continued to fight in the Digital Wars for another year and a half against the four Dark Masters.  Then another three years had passed before they had seen each other again.  Then they had gone back to the digital world to fight the Digimon Emperor, who had turned out to be the bearer of the crest of kindness; a gentle young boy named Ken.  They had beaten Ken and had managed to turn him back to the side of light.  It was one of the side fights during that battle that stood out clearly in TK's mind.

            Kari had been pulled into the digital world by an unknown force.  There she had encountered a group of digimon called Scubamon who had wanted her to free them from Ken's control.  When she had, they turned on her, wanting to use her to over throw their undersea master.  TK had managed to find her, and the two of them had driven off the Scubamon.  But the part of the adventure that TK remembered clearest was a simple sentence.

            "I care for you too."

            To anyone else it would have meant little, but to the Angel of Light and the Keeper of Hope, it was a vocalization of their feelings.  That had been five years ago, and the pair had grown closer over time.  They had taken it slowly, knowing that they were meant for each.

            A slight snore broke TK from his reminiscing.  TK smiled when he saw Patamon sleeping on the coffee table.  TK's partner digimon looked for all the world like a guinea pig with bat wings for ears.  Patamon had been his partner and friend ever since TK had first arrived in the Digital World.  TK stood up and gently lifted the sleeping digimon from his precarious position on the edge of the coffee table and carried him back to his room and deposited him on the bed.  TK quietly closed the door and walked back out to the living room and looked at the wall clock.  Eight o'clock.

            "I guess I should make some dinner," TK thought out loud.  He spent several minutes rummaging through the kitchen trying to find something he felt like eating.  His search was interrupted by a knock at the door.

            "Who could that be?  Matt's out on a date with Sora, and Dad had to work late," TK thought as he made his way over to the door.  He opened it only a crack at first then threw it open wide as he saw who it was.  Kari stood on the threshold, soaking wet and shivering.  She had grown much during the last three years, her body changing and making her into very much a woman.  She had let her hair grow and it now reached her shoulders.  She was slender but also tall, five foot ten if TK remembered right.  She shivered again as TK wordlessly beckoned her into the apartment.  He closed the door and turned to find her still standing there, with her head down.  She was still shaking slightly, and TK began to suspect that she was crying.  TK quickly silenced the murderous thoughts that began to go through his head.

            "Kari."  There was no response as she simply stood in the entrance hall.  "Kari."  His voice was slightly louder and he gently cupped her chin with his hand and forced her to look at him.  "What are you doing here?"  Her response was, to say the least, unexpected.  With a low cry she flung herself into his arms and began to sob uncontrollably.  TK once again repressed his rage until a suitable time and simply held the sobbing girl, gently stroking her hair and murmuring words of comfort to her.  Her sobs gradually began to subside and she looked up at TK with gratitude shinning out of her chocolate-brown eyes.

            "I'm sorry," she stated in a very subdued voice.  Then she laughed a weak little laugh.  "I must look fairly awful.

            "Fairly, yes," TK responded.  "Why don't you go take a shower and warm up?  I'll go find something for you to wear and we can throw your things in the dryer.  Have you eaten yet?"  She shook her head.  "Then I guess I'll cook for two tonight.  Here," he took her backpack from her shoulder.  "Now let's get you warm and dry so I can pamper you."  TK was rewarded with a slightly stronger smile.

            TK walked her to his room where he set her backpack down and grabbed a tee shirt and a pair of elastic workout shorts from his dresser and handed them to her.  "They might be a little big on you," he apologized.

            "That's fine," she replied.  "Where's your mom?" It was only because of their years of friendship that Kari saw the fleeting look of pain that crossed TK's features before he reinforced his usual, happy demeanor.

            "She's at a science conference in Tokyo."  A slight laugh escaped his lips.  She's had Izzy over her for the last four days briefing her on the topics that are supposed to be covered."

            "So you're on your own again?"

                "Mom figures that if I'm old enough to fight the forces of darkness, then I'm old enough to look after myself.  Besides, Matt and Dad don't live that far away."  Again, it was only through their years of friendship that Kari saw the momentary drop in the façade of happiness.

            "Now why don't you go warm up and dry off.  How does beef stir-fry with buttered rice sound?"  Kari nodded, a genuine smile on her face now, and turned and walked towards the bathroom.

            Once she was in the bathroom, TK picked up her backpack and walked back into the living room.  Once there he opened the top of the backpack and walked into the kitchen.    
"You can come out now," he said from the kitchen as he began to compile the ingredients for dinner.  A small white colored cat wearing yellow gloves climbed out of the bag and stood up on her hind legs.

            "Well finally.  It gets hot in there," she complained, climbing up onto the kitchen counter.

            "Hello Gatomon," TK replied as he began to boil water for the rice.

            "Hi TK," the feline digimon replied.  "How are things with you?"  TK shrugged.

            "Same as always.  How are you?"

            "Okay.  Kari's mom is finally used to the idea of having a pair of digimon around the house.  She's also begun to cook real food.  Agumon and I spend a lot of time playing cards.  He says hi."  TK smiled at the thought of Agumon, the little orange t-rex digimon that was the partner of Tai, Kari's older brother and leader of the original digidestined.  His face quickly sobered.

            "What's wrong with Kari?"  Gatomon stayed silent, her expression troubled.

            "I don't think I should tell you," she finally said.  She held up one gloved paw to forestall TK's protests.  "I think that she should tell you when she's ready.  Now where's Patamon?"

            "Asleep on my bed."  TK let out a short laugh at the grimace that crossed Gatomon's face.  "Go wake him up and then take off, the both of you, but stay close by."  Gatomon nodded and leaped off the counter and hurried over toward TK's room.

            TK checked to make sure that everything in the kitchen could do with out him for a few minutes, then he dried his hands on a dishcloth and made his way over to the cordless phone and dialed.  After six rings the other side answered and TK was rewarded with the sound of his brother's voice.

            "What is it?"  Matt sounded slightly out of breath and very irritated.  TK barely suppressed a grin as he responded.

            "Did I interrupt anything, bro?  You sound tired."

            "Hi TK."  Matt's voice softened somewhat as he realized who he was talking to.  "What's up?"

            "Were you and Sora going to come over tonight?"

            "Later on, yeah.  Why, you lonely?"

            "Kari showed up at the door ten minutes ago, soaking wet and crying.  I'm going to try and find out what's wrong…"

            "And you think that she'll open up to you more if Sora and I don't butt in," Matt finished.

            "Basically," TK replied blandly.

            "Consider it done.  Call me if you need anything, all right?  Oh, and remember that we've got practice tomorrow at noon.  I'll swing by and pick you up."

            "Alright bro.  Give Sora my love when you two are done playing."  TK laughed as he hit the talk button, ending the call.

            "Fucking little smart ass," Matt mumbled as he hung up the phone.

            "What was that?" a feminine voice asked teasingly.  Matt smiled as he rolled back to face the beautiful redhead lying next to him, naked and gorgeous.  Her large brown eyes were both playful and curious.  "What did TK want?" she prompted him.

            "He sends his love," Matt began, lightly tracing his fingers up and down her arm.

            "And that got you so worked up?"  Sora laughed.

            "Funny," Matt grinned.  "No, it was something else he said."

            "Share," Sora prompted while forcing him to lay down with his head on her chest.  Matt relayed the jest of the conversation to the redheaded love of his life as she played with his hair.  When he had finished the two of them simply lay on his bed.  After a while Sora spoke up.  "If anything is wrong, TK will find a way to fix it."

            "Especially for Kari," Matt replied.  "Did he ever tell you where he got that black eye from a couple of weeks ago?  Well," Matt continued after Sora had shaken her head no.  "He got into a fight with a group of ten kids at school.  They had been harassing Kari and TK persuaded them to stop."

            "Persuaded?"  Sora asked.

            "He was very persuasive," Matt grinned.  "He walked away from fighting all ten of them at once with a black eye.  Some of them had to be carried away.  I was so proud of him that day I thought my heart was going to burst.  Tai, Davis, Ken, Izzy, Joe, and I had all offered to help, but he told all of us that he would take care of it himself.  And boy did he ever.  Most of those kids were apologizing to Kari the next day.  The rest had to wait until the hospital released them."

            "Those two really love each other," Sora said quietly.  "I remember when TK came to school the next day with that black eye he and Kari had one hell of a fight out on the basketball courts.  She was mostly mad at him for having gotten hurt because of her."

            "Yeah," Matt replied lazily.  "We should drop by tomorrow morning and get TK.  Then we can go get Tai and Kari and the five of us can have breakfast together."

            "I'll go one step further," Sora added.  "We can also call Joe, Izzy and Mimi and the eight of use can go get some breakfast together."

            "You're intelligent, beautiful, and kind.  How did I end up being so lucky?"  Matt asked.

            "Simple," Sora replied as she leaned down and captured his lips in a passionate kiss.  "You're a monster in the sack."

            "Well then," Matt grinned as he flipped Sora onto her back and pinned her arms to the bed, still kissing her.

            "You're dad's working late tonight?"  Sora asked, breathlessly, as the two broke apart after several minutes.

            "Probably end up sleeping at the office again," Matt replied.

            "Perfect," Sora whispered as she locked her arms around Matt's neck and pulled him down to her.

            Kari sighed as she listened to the rhythmic pounding of the rain against the windows while drying her hair.  TK had been right.  The shower had definitely warmed her.  It had also calmed her somewhat.  She finished drying her hair and picked up the clothes that TK had given her.  She slipped on the shorts, tying the cord tight enough so that she was sure they would stay up and pulled on the tee shirt.  It was fairly big on her, but she didn't mind.  She put her wet clothes in a pile on the floor and left, turning off the light as she went.

            She made her way to the living room, padding softly along the carpeting in her bare feet.  She stopped as she came into sight of the kitchen.  TK was on the phone with some one, when he laughed and hung up.  He placed the phone back on the cradle and turned to go back to the kitchen, but stopped when he caught sight of Kari.  Kari, for her part, leaned against the wall and studied her best friend.

TK had shot up like a weed in the last three years.  He was now a good six foot two.  His body was well toned from his place on the basketball team and from all of their adventures in the digital world.  His blond hair had gotten longer since he had stopped wearing his white fisherman hat.  It now hung half way down his neck and, as usual, was tied back into a ponytail.  His piercing blue eyes still held that trace of innocence, although much of that innocence was rapidly giving way to a kind of ageless wisdom.  Tonight he wore only a pair of blue jeans and a black tank top that showed off his well-toned arms.  Kari's eyes stopped on his left ear for a moment and a slight giggle escaped her throat as the light of the room reflected off of the small gold-colored earring that hung there.  His mother had been firmly against it.  Privately, Kari thought it made him look even sexier than usual.  TK's eyebrow shot up at Kari's giggle, but he chose not to comment on it.  He gestured for her to take a seat at the table, set for four.

            "Were you expecting company?"  Kari asked, somewhat hesitantly.  She hadn't meant to disrupt his plans tonight, she simply couldn't think of anywhere else to go.  She most definitely didn't want to be around anyone else tonight.  Her fears were quickly put to rest, however, when TK just smiled and called out "Dinner!"

            Patamon and Gatomon erupted out of the door from TK's room and hurried to the table.  Kari smiled slightly at the enthusiasm of the pair of digimon.  Patamon and Gatomon both took seats on either side of Kari, while TK sat across from her and the four of them quickly began to dig in to the large bowl of rice and the platter of beef stir fry.  The four of them ate in silence, listening to the rain against the windows.  They finally finished and Kari pushed her plate back.

            "TK, that was delicious.  Thank you.  Where did you learn to be such a good cook?"

            "Matt.  He's probably better than I am.  I'm sure Sora and Dad appreciate his cooking almost as much as I do.  Of course," he admitted, "Matt tends to be a little more exotic than me."  

            "The time he made something out of hot sauce, wasabi, and a meat with green fuzz on it?"  Kari laughed.  TK gave her a rueful grin.

            "I don't think he was trying to kill me."  Kari laughed again.  TK then shoot a glance at the two digimon who quickly excused themselves and went into the living room, where Gatomon found a deck of cards.  TK then stood up and motioned for Kari to follow him.  The two of them went into TK's room and TK closed the door after them.

            TK's bed, a twin size, sat against the west wall, its head resting against the south wall.  Across from it sat a fair sized computer table with TKs computer on it.  All of the digidestined had similar computers.  They had been Christmas gifts from Gennai and the other protectors of the digital world three years ago.  A small bedside table held a radio-alarm clock that Tai had given him that same Christmas.  Along the east wall were a dresser and a number of bookshelves.  There were a number of framed pictures on top of the dresser.  There were a few of TK's family, one of the original eight digidestined back from when they had returned from the Digital Wars, and a larger one of the original eight plus Cody, Davis, Ken, and Yolei and all of the digimon.  And then there was the last one.  It was from just after they had stopped BlackWargreymon.  TK and Kari had gone to America to visit Mimi and had spent a lot of time in New York.  TK stood right behind Kari giving the peace sign.  That was also when they had meet Willis, one of the American digidestined.  Willis had become one of TK's closest friends, and the two had kept in close touch ever since.  Kari smiled as she remembered several of the impromptu basketball games the two had arranged in the digital world.

            The light sounds of a guitar broke Kari from her contemplation of the pictures.  TK had sat down on the beanbag chair that occupied the center of his room and had begun to play a soft tune on his guitar.  Kari recognized the tune a second or two before TK softly began to sing the lyrics.

You've got your ball 

_You've got your chain_

_Tied to me tight tie me up again_

Who's got their claws 

_In you my friend_

_Into your heart I'll beat again_

_Sweet like candy to my soul_

_Sweet you rock_

_And sweet you roll_

Lost for you I'm so lost for you 

_You come crash into me_

_And I come into you,_

_I come into you_

_In a boys dream_

_In a boys dream_

_Touch your lips just so I know_

_In your eyes, love, it glows so_

_I'm bare-boned and crazy for you_

_When you come crash_

_Into me, baby_

_And I come into you_

_In a boys dream_

_In a boys dream_

_If I've gone overboard_

_Then I'm begging you_

_To forgive me_

_In my haste_

_When I'm holding you so girl…_

_Close to me_

_Oh, and you come crash_

_Into me, baby_

_And I come into you_

_Hike up your skirt a little more_

_And show the world to me_

_Hike up your skirt a little more_

_And show the world to me_

_In a boys dream…In a boys dream_

_Oh, I watch you there_

_Through the window_

_And I stare at you_

_You wear nothing but you_

_Wear it so well_

_Tied up and twisted,_

_The way I'd like to be_

_For you, for me, come crash_

_Into me_

            "That was beautiful," Kari commented.  "Now I know why Matt asked you to replace his guitarist.

            "Thanks," TK replied.  "Are you ready to talk about it?"

            "About what?"  Kari tried to feign ignorance, fairly unsuccessfully.

            "The reason why you showed up on my door step at eight at night completely unannounced, soaking wet and crying."  Kari bit her lower lip, her expression troubled.  "Look you know that you can tell me anything, right?"  Kari nodded.  TK sighed and stood up from the bean bag chair.  He put his guitar away and sat down on the bed.  Kari sat down next to him.  TK scooted over to one end of the bed, and for a second Kari was afraid that she had hurt him by not telling him.  She came very close to telling him right then and there.

            Her fears were quickly relieved when TK pulled her down so that she was lying with her head in his lap.  The two remained like that for several minutes, with TK lazily running his fingers through her hair.

            "Tai and I got into a fight," Kari stated out of the blue.  TK winced.  Tai and Kari had always been incredibly close and the prospect of the two of them fighting was slightly frightening to him.

            "What happened?"  TK forced his voice to remain calm and soothing.  The most important point right now was getting Kari to open up and talk about what had happened and how she was feeling.

            "Tai had come home from a date.  It hadn't gone well.  He really liked this girl, but apparently she was convinced that this would only be a one-time thing.  I told Tai that he had gone through all of the trouble of earning his reputation as a playboy, so it was up to him to fix it.  Then he started to ask questions about how the two of us can stay together even after some of the fights we've had.  I told him that we wanted our relationship to work and that nothing worthwhile is ever easy.  Then he started pushing me about why you and not, say Davis.  He was very casual about, and I didn't think anything of it so I started telling him about everything."

            "Then what happened."  TK began to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

            "He got really quiet well I was telling him about how I felt about you and how we felt about each other.  Then, out of nowhere, he told me to…to…to stop seeing you."  Kari collapsed into sobs as she finished.  TK gathered her up in his arms and began to soothe her.

            "Did he tell you why he wanted you to break up with me?"  His gut told TK that the question was important.

            "He said we were too young," Kari whispered.  TK was almost sure he hadn't heard her right.

            "He said what?"

            "He said that you and I were too young to have the feelings we have for each other.  TK we're eighteen!"  Kari cried into his shoulder.  "We shouldn't have to wait."  But TK saw what Tai had been talking about.  Legally, he and Kari were only sixteen, but their time in the digital world had added up and, physically, the two were eighteen.  Besides that, their time in the digital world had aged them emotionally.  TK began to wonder whether Tai was conveniently forgetting that fact on purpose, or if he thought that everything they had done in the digital world didn't count.  TK quickly jerked himself back to reality when he realized that Kari had stopped crying and was now simply cuddling in his arms.

            "I take it that Tai doesn't know that you're here."

            "No.  I waited until he took a shower to leave.  I left him a note that said that I was spending the night at a friends."  Kari looked up at him.  "You are my friend, aren't you TK?"  TK laughed.

            "A little more than that, I think."  TK looked at the clock and realized with a bit of a jolt that it was now almost one in the morning.  He disentangled himself from Kari's arms and stood up.  "I need to get some sleep," he explained when Kari gave him a pleading look.  "You can sleep in my mom's room tonight.  I'm sure she wouldn't mind," TK added as he turned towards the door to go change for bed.

            "Don't leave me."  Her voice sounded so vulnerable that TK whipped his head around to look at her.  Kari sat against the headboard of the bed, her arms holding her legs to her chest.  She was also as pale as a sheet and tears were welling up in her eyes.  TK glanced down at his wrists for a moment, studying the scars as he came to a decision.

Actually, he thought bitterly to himself, Tai made this decision for me.  He knew the emotional position that Kari was in right now all too well.  The feelings of loneliness, of abandonment that he had managed to suppress for almost a year now were haunting those beautiful chocolate brown eyes.

            Kari looked up as she felt the bed sag for a moment.  She looked up from where she had been huddled in a corner of the bed to loose herself in those cerulean eyes she loved so much.  No words were exchanged at first as TK leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss.  His hands began to range up and down her arms and around to her back.  Her own began to tug at his tank top, finally freeing it from his jeans.  The kiss paused so that Kari could pull the shirt over TK's head.  TK pulled her own shirt off and began to massage her breasts.  He than picked her up and lay her down on the bed and leaned down to renew the passionate kiss.

            Soon all that the two could hear were the beating of each other's hearts, their breathing and the sound of raindrops.

            TK woke up briefly early in the morning; so early that the sun was not even up yet.  He turned his head slightly and smiled at the sight of Kari's head nestled against his naked chest.  A content smile tugged at her lips and the pain that had been there when she first arrived seemed to be gone.  He leaned down slightly and kissed the top of her forehead and whispered those three words that had rapidly become the reason for him to live.

            "I love you."  As he drifted back to the sleep of those who are content with their world, he heard Kari sleepily respond.

            "I love you too."


	2. Repercutions

Chapter 2 

            Matt sighed slightly as he knocked on the apartment door for the fifth time.  Sora stood next to him and gave him a confused look.

            "I always thought that TK was an early riser?"

            "Actually, he just doesn't sleep that much," Matt admitted as he fished around in his pocket for his keys.  He pulled them out when he finally found them and selected the one to this apartment.  Inserting the key, Matt opened the door and gestured for Sora to enter first.  The apartment was still somewhat dark, and it was obvious that no one had been up and about for several hours.  Matt glanced down at his watch.  It read ten-thirty.  Matt shook his head and moved into the apartment after removing his shoes.  Sora had already done that and was checking the refrigerator for a note from TK.  After confirming that there wasn't one she returned to the entrance hall and stopped as something caught her eye.  Kari's shoes still sat in their cubbyhole. 

            "Matt," Sora called softly.  Matt quickly came up to her.  "I think we have a guest."  Matt took one look at the shoes and quickly made his way to his brother's room.  The door was closed, but Matt opened it quietly and looked inside.  And let his jaw drop.  TK and Kari lay on the bed in each other's arms.  The sheets were tangled around them and even an idiot could tell what they had done.

            "What now?"  Sora quietly asked Matt.  In response Matt walked up to the sleeping couple and quietly and carefully untangled the sheets and used it to cover them.  He then left the room and motioned for Sora to follow him.  Sora followed him into the living room where Matt picked up the cordless and dialed.  After a moment he spoke into the phone.

            "Hey Jordan?  It's Matt.  Look, something's come up and TK and I won't be able to make it to practice today.  Yeah, I know that we have a gig in a month.  Of course it's important.  Yes, I know that practice doesn't mean anything without us.  I'm sorry.  Look can you call everyone else and tell them that we'll reschedule?  Thanks man.  Yeah, you too."  Matt then hung up and slumped wearily into a nearby recliner.  "Now we wait for them to wake up and explain."

            TK woke slowly, his mind and body both began violently protesting, trying to tell him that they were perfectly content where they were.  TK tightened his hold around Kari for a moment as his mind replayed the events of last night.  Taking a sleepy glance at the clock, however, caused TK to become wide-awake.  Groaning, slightly over the aches in certain muscles he attempted to get out of bed without waking her.

            "TK?"  He was slightly less than successful.

            "I didn't mean to wake you, but I need to start getting ready," he explained as he began to pull on a pair of boxers.  "Matt's coming over soon to pick me up for practice."  Kari also got out of bed and pulled on the shorts and tee shirt from last night. 

            "Then why don't you take a shower while I make us breakfast?"  She suggested as they left the room.

            "That's a good idea," TK admitted.  "If I'm late, Matt's going to be pissed."

            "It's a little late to be worrying about that."  The voice from the living room brought them both up short as they walked out.  Matt sat on the recliner, dressed in a pair of khakis and a white button up shirt.  Sora sat next to him on the arm of the recliner in a deep green blouse and a black ankle- length skirt.  TK sighed and turned to go back to his room.  "Where do you think you're going?"  Matt demanded.  TK turned back to face his less than thrilled brother.

            "It's too early in the morning for us to have this conversation half naked.  I'm going to go pull on a shirt and pants.  I promise I'll be right back."  This last seamed more directed at Kari, who was beginning to resemble a deer in headlights.  After TK had left the room, Matt gestured for Kari to sit down on the sofa across from the recliner.  Kari mutely nodded and took her seat, staring at her hands for a few minutes.

            "Oh stop that!"  Matt barked.  Then his toned softened considerably.  "I'm not going to bite or anything."  Kari looked up and grinned lightly.  Sora assessed the situation rapidly and moved over to sit next to the Angel of Light.

            "Don't worry, honey," Sora soothed, giving Kari a hug.  "Matt's just a little worried about the both of you.  He's mostly just trying to be a brother to TK."

            "And you."  Kari looked up to see Matt standing next to her with a glass of orange juice.  She gratefully took the glass and took several swallows.  Then Matt sat down next to her and gave her a hug.  "I'm not going to take your head off.  Trust me," and his face broke into an almost wolfish grin.

            "Don't you already have a girlfriend?"  TK asked mildly from where he leaned on the doorframe, now dressed in a pair of black jeans and a black tee shirt.  Kari got up off the sofa and went over into TK's open arms, nestling her head in the hollow of his neck.  TK, for his part, simply let his nostrils take in the scent of her hair.  They stood like that for a minute and then they separated, TK taking her hand and leading them back to the sofa to face the pair who had resumed their seats on the recliner.  TK picked up the glass of orange juice and took a drink.

            "What happened last night?"  Matt asked.

            "Well," TK started, "Kari showed up at the door around eight, soaking wet and crying.  I got her calmed down a little and sent her to take a shower to warm up a little and I gave her some dry clothes to use while her own dried.  Then I made some dinner for us, since Kari hadn't eaten yet.  While I was making dinner, I called you and told you to keep away from the apartment for the night.  After that the four of us had dinner,"

            "Four?"  Matt broke in.

            "Yeah.  Kari, Patamon, Gatomon, and me."  Matt relaxed somewhat, so TK continued.  "After dinner, Kari and I went to my room to talk.  Last I saw Patamon and Gatomon, they were in here playing cards."

            "We decided to sleep on your mom's bed when it became obvious that it wasn't going to be used," Gatomon supplied as she walked into the room, followed by Patamon.  Patamon dropped into TK's arms and gave him a hug, while Gatomon climbed into Kari's lap and did the same.  "Are you feeling better, Kari?"  Kari smiled at Gatomon's question and nodded.  "Good," was all that the feline digimon said before settling into Kari's lap.

            "Anyway," TK picked up again.  "Kari and I talked for a few hours and I finally got her to open up about what had made her so sad.  I tried my best to comfort her, but she was still depressed, so I decided that the best way to cheer her up would be with a tangible display of love."

            "So what was wrong?"  Sora asked.  TK glanced at Kari and then at Matt before replying.

            "I'd rather not say."  His voice was slightly soft and held a tinge of regret.  He and Matt had become so much closer over the last year, and Sora had always been like another mother to him.  The idea of lying to them was unthinkable, but he didn't think it right for him to air Tai's stupidity.

            "Now for the tough questions," Matt stated.

            "Shouldn't we get to practice?"  TK tried to stall.

            "Not since I cancelled it this morning after Sora and I walked into your little love nest," Matt replied blandly.

            "Speaking of that, what are you two doing here?"  TK asked.

            "Sora and I decided last night that we'd pick you up early and try to get the entire group together for breakfast," Matt replied.  "Now stop trying to change the subject."

            "Does Tai know about the breakfast plans?"  Kari suddenly asked.  Matt and Sora both detected the slightest hint of panic in her voice.

            "We were going to call everyone from here honey," Sora replied.  Kari visibly relaxed.  TK put his arm around her shoulders and spoke to her softly for a moment before straitening up again.

            "What now?" he asked.

            "How about breakfast?"  Sora suggested, smiling.  "There's no real reason why we can't get everyone together still.  It is the summer, so none of us have school."  Matt smiled at the idea, but quickly lost the smile when Kari spoke up.

            "Not Tai."

            "But Kari," Sora started, but TK cut her off with a gesture as he leaned down and spoke to her again.  They quietly talked for a few minutes, before they straitened up again.

            "Everyone's fine," TK assured them.  "Actually, why don't we call Cody, Yolei, Ken and Davis too?"  Matt nodded in response.  He knew that something was up and he suspected that the inclusion of the newer digidestined was just as an excuse to get Yolei to Kari's side.  Even before their digimon had DNAdigivolved, the two had become fast friends and Yolei was much like a sister to Kari.

            A few quick phone calls later and everything was set up.  Since it was getting to be afternoon, Sora had suggested a picnic lunch in the park.  Everyone was bringing his or her digimon, of course.  Matt and Sora finally left after TK and Kari had promised to meet them there, but pleading that they both needed to take showers.

            "You were awfully calm there," Sora noted as she and Matt made their way to the Apartment complexes parking lot, and Matt's convertible.

            "I know TK well enough to know that screaming at him won't do any good."  Matt let out a small laugh.  "Actually, I've been half expecting this for the last year."  Sora nodded in agreement.

            "I know what you mean," she agreed.  "Those two went for years without really telling each other how they felt about each other and those words are very important.  I think when we almost lost TK, they both realized that."  They had reached the car by now and Matt moved around to open Sora's door for her.  He stopped her just before she got in and kissed her on the cheek.

            "I love you," he stated simply before closing the door and moving around to get in the driver's side.  Matt pulled out of the garage and headed towards the convenience store that Yolei's family ran to get some food together for the picnic.  After a while, Sora spoke up again.

            "Why don't we go pick up Tai?  I want to make sure that he gets to the picnic."  A smile tugged at Matt's lips.

            "So you noticed Kari's sudden one-eighty too?"

            "It was fairly obvious that what ever happened last night involved Tai," Sora stated.  "I doubt that we'll find out from TK.  He obviously thinks that it would hurt Kari, and TK has devoted entire portions of his life trying to prevent that."

            "And if it really took TK that long to get here to open up," Matt continued, picking up the train of thought where Sora had left off, "then I really doubt that she'll open up to any of us older kids.  Especially since you and I are Tai's best friends."

            "I think it's something else," Sora disagreed.  Matt risked a brief glance in her direction as he stopped for a light.  She was looking out the window, and chewing on her lower lip, like she always did when she was nervous.

            "Well, the best place to try for right now would be to ask Tai," Matt suggested as they pulled into the parking lot.

            Tai was lounging on the sofa watching TV when there was a knock on the door of his family's apartment.  His family had moved two years ago so that he and Kari could have separate rooms.  His father was away on a business trip for several days and his mother had gone with him.  Tai strongly suspected that the business part of the trip would only last for a little bit of the time that the two were going to be away.

            Tai grumbled slightly as he turned off the TV and got up to answer the door.  He hoped that it was Kari, but in his heart he knew that he had really managed to screw up last night.  He had tried in vein to justify his actions and words, but they always kept coming up hollow.  He silently sighed, then composed himself and opened the door.  He was met with the sight of his two best friends.

            "Matt, Sora, come on in.  What brings you here?"  The three of them proceeded into the living room after Matt and Sora had taken off their shoes.

            "We thought that we'd give you a ride to the park," Sora replied as she sat down on the sofa.  Tai sat down next to her, but Matt remained standing.

            "Why are we going to the park?"  Tai was just a little bewildered.  His sister was missing and his best friends were in the mood for a soccer game?

            "For the picnic," Matt replied blandly.  "We tried to call you to tell you about it, but the line was busy."  Tai shrugged.

            "I've been calling people.  I had something important to take care of."

            "Trying to find Kari?"  Sora asked mildly.  Tai's eyes practically bulged out of his head.

            "Do you know where she is?"  He shot up and almost grabbed Sora's arm, but was restrained by Matt, who caught Tai's arm and forced him to sit back down.

            "We know where she is," Matt confirmed.  "She's safe for right now and she's going to be at the picnic.  Now what happened last night between you two?"  It wasn't really a request and Tai saw that immediately.  With some reluctance he began to tell them everything.

            "And when I got out of the shower there was a note that just said that she was spending the night at a friend's.  It didn't say which one and I spent half the night looking for her."  Tai finished talking and looked at his closest friends.  Sora's face was a mixture of pity and exasperation.  Matt's face very closely resembled a thundercloud and for a moment Tai was actually afraid.  He breathed a little easier though as Matt visibly took control of his temper.

            "That was probably the STUPIDEST thing that you have EVER done!"  Matt shouted.  "What were you thinking!  Were you thinking?  You actually tried to make Kari pick between you and TK!  You fucking idiot!"  Then again, Tai thought, Matt always did have one hell of a temper.

            "Why Tai?"  This question came from Sora who had stood up and put a restraining hand on Matt's arm.

            "Oh come on!  Don't tell me that you two actually approve of the depth of their relationship."

            "It doesn't matter whether we approve or not," Sora answered.  "The choices are theirs to make and theirs alone.  The most that we can do is give them our opinions and advice and trust them to do what they think is right."  Tai sighed.

            "I think that they've been talking about having sex."  It was obvious that he didn't even like talking about the possibility.

"Even if they are, there's not much that you can do about it," Matt pointed out.  "Kari's eighteen and TK's almost nineteen."

            "No they're not!"  Tai interrupted.  "They're both sixteen.  They're too young to be having sex or even thinking about it."

            "You know better then that Tai," Sora rebuked.  "You tried to convince your parents to let you drink when you were nineteen because of the time we were in the digital world.  You tried to argue that we were all two years older then we really were because of how time passes there.  Now you're trying to block that same argument.  TK and Kari are both old enough physically and they are definitely old enough emotionally."  Tai hung his head in shame.  He and Sora had been best friends for years now and the disappointment evident in her voice cut through him like a knife.

            "This was what led to your argument with Kari."  Matt didn't phrase it as a question.  He didn't have to.

            "Yes."  Tai voice was very subdued.  The full weight of what he had done was finally beginning to sink in.  He didn't want to lose his closeness to Kari over this.  His thoughts were interrupted by Matt's voice.

            "It's actually not as bad as you might think.  Both Kari and TK know that you don't tend to think when you get very emotional and protective, so they might actually forgive you if you approach them right."

            "How?"  Tai practically pleaded.

            "Well, the picnic is in a few minutes, so the best bet would be to talk to them then."  Matt put a comforting hand on Tai's shoulder.  "Just tell them that you don't like the idea, but that it's their decision and that you'll support what ever choice they make."  Tai sighed and stood up.

            "Well, let's get to the picnic."  He suddenly grinned and looked at Sora.  "Unless you're scarred that I can still whip you at soccer."  Sora stood up and smoothed the front of her skirt.  She then gave him a dazzling smile.

            "You and what nation?" she asked sweetly.

            Most everyone was already at the park by the time they arrived.  Izzy, Yolei, and Ken were in an informal circle, talking shop.  TK sat underneath a nearby tree while Kari sat in his lap and the two would occasionally join in on the conversation.  Joe and Cody sat on a park bench, talking about nothing in particular.  Mimi sat next to Joe and spoke up every now and then.  Davis was kicking around a soccer ball, obviously waiting for Tai to show up so that the two of them could get down to some serious soccer.  The digimon were just lounging around in the grass, usually close to their partners, except for Gatomon and Patamon, who were playing a game of tag with Veemon.  Gabumon, Biyomon, and Agumon ran ahead of Tai, Matt and Sora to join in the tag game.  Veemon was obviously it, and it was obvious that he would never catch Patamon or Gatomon.  The other digimon began to take notice of the game, and soon all twelve were involved in an elaborate game of tag.

            TK and Kari greeted Matt and Sora warmly, but barely acknowledged Tai's greeting.  Matt joined Joe, Mimi, and Cody, while Sora called Yolei over to help her set up the picnic.  Tai joined Davis in kicking around the soccer ball.

            The group gathered together when Sora called out that lunch was ready.  The conversation was basically idle chitchat as the friends all enjoyed the picnic lunch.  Eventually, the conversation turned towards the upcoming concert.

            "So, do you know what songs you're going to sing?"  Mimi asked.  Mimi had just recently moved back to Japan and was still trying to catch up with all of her old friends.  She and Yolei had developed a bond that bordered on sisterhood and she had reestablished her deep friendship with Joe, even though she and Michael still exchanged e-mails and meet in the digital world for dates.

            "Not really," Matt conceded.  "We're mostly just going to practice a wide range of songs and then pick them as we go."  TK nodded his agreement.

            "It keeps us on our toes," he added.

            "So, what's it like playing in a rock band?"  Cody asked TK.  Cody had grown significantly since their adventures in the digital world.  He was just finishing puberty and his voice still tended to warble back and forth.  He was also growing like a weed.

            "Overrated," TK admitted, as Kari snuggled deeper into his arms.  "There's so much to do to get ready for everything that you tend to miss a lot."

            "It's really kind of depressing when you can't dance at any of the party's because your date is on stage," Kari added.  TK looked like he was about to say something, but Kari silenced him by placing a finger on his lips.  "We've already had this discussion, Love," she reminded him.  "I don't really mind.  Not too much, anyway."  TK smiled and kissed her finger.

            "What's it like dating a rock star?"  Yolei asked, her eyes alight with curiosity.  Yolei had also grown up since the digital world.  She was now much less quick to judge, and was slightly more forgiving.  She had also started to wear contacts, and had started to dress better.  Ken privately thought that the contacts made her look very pretty.

            "What's it like dating a genius?"  Kari retorted.  This set both girls to giggling and Ken to blushing.  Ken himself had also grown.  He was now much more open and fun loving.  Yolei had that effect on people sometimes.  His parents had recently moved into a new apartment in Odiaba, so Ken was now in the same class as Yolei, Davis, TK and Kari.  He was the co captain of the soccer team, along side Davis.  His hair was still short, but he wore more casual clothes.

            "You first," Mimi retorted on Yolei's behalf.

            "It's kind of fun," Kari admitted.  "TK tends to stay out of the spot light, and everyone knows that the two of us are involved, so I don't have to deal with screaming fan girls trying to ask him out right in front of me.  And of course, there are the perks," Kari sighed in pleasure as TK kissed her on the forehead and began to gently massage her shoulders.

            "Perks?"  Joe asked, slightly perplexed.

            "It's easier to get reservations at some of the more elegant restaurants, things like that," TK supplied.

            "Actually, I was talking about how attentive you tend to get whenever you feel that you've been neglecting me because of a concert," Kari smiled up at TK.

            "There's that too," TK admitted, blandly.  "Now you tell us," he added, turning towards Yolei.  She smiled at Ken, and snaked her hand into his.

            "Mostly, I just have to put up with someone needing his help.  He always goes out of his way to help anyone.  It's one of his more endearing traits, actually.  It just becomes really annoying when I'm trying to spend a few minutes alone with him and someone runs up with a math problem that they don't understand."  Yolei sighed and laid her head down on Ken's shoulder.  "Of course, it's also fun to have someone to argue with."

            "Does your existence get ignored this often too?"  Ken asked TK.

            "Get used to it," TK advised.  Kari stuck her tongue out at TK and Yolei did the same to Ken.  Everyone seemed to find this absolutely hilarious.  After they had calmed down a bit the conversation continued.

            "So what about you, Davis?"  Sora asked from where she lay with her head in Matt's lap.  "Anyone special in your life yet?"  Davis seemed to hesitate.

            "Spill it Davis!"  Yolei shouted, sitting back up.  The other's rapidly agreed with Yolei.

            "It's really nothing guys," Davis shrugged.

            "Come on, buddy," TK said.  "The rest of us get our lives put under the microscope for your amusement, now you get to face the same thing."

            "Come on TS, cut me a break," Davis whined.  The two of them had long ago buried the hatchet and where now close friends.  Davis still mispronounced TK's name more out of habit then anything else.  TK let him get away with it as a sign of friendship.

            "Who is it?"  Kari asked.

            "You probably don't know her," Davis stalled.

            "Name."  Kari commanded.  Davis sighed in defeat.

            "Her name's Maria and she's from America."

            "The brunette with the Centarumon?"  Mimi asked.

            "Yeah, that's her," Davis admitted.  "We talked a little while you and I were in New York sending all the free digimon back to the digital world.  We got along fairly well and she was pretty nice.  Anyway, we meet up again last year in one of the digi-chat rooms that Izzy and Gennai set up to keep all the digidestined around the world connected.  We just kept talking off and on for about a month and then she suggested that we meet up in the digital world.  We've been dating ever since."  He leaned back with a smug expression on his face.  "Its kind of cool being able to go on dates in the digital world.  We also use it so I can go to America to see her and she uses it to come see me here."

            "What's her Centarumon like?"  Patamon asked Veemon.

            "He's a nice guy," Veemon admitted.  "His rookie form is a Gabumon, so he's kind of fun to hang out with."

            "He?"  Gatomon asked.  She seamed very startled.

            "Yeah, why?"  Veemon asked.  Then realization dawned in his eyes.  "Oh no!  SO not doing what you're thinking!  Yuck!"

            "What?"  Davis was obviously confused.  

            "These gutter brains think that her Gabumon and I are going out.  I am strait!  Gesh!"

            "Well, we did have a fair amount of evidence," TK pointed out.  "Patamon and Gatomon got together even before Kari and I did and Biyomon and Gabumon have been together since Sora and Matt got together."

            "Plus Tentomon gets along very well with that Candlemon," Gomamon added.  Everyone stared at him.

            "What Candlemon?"  Palmon asked.

            "Well the OWW!"  Gomamon broke off as Tentomon jabbed him hard in the side.  Mimi turned to Izzy.

            "Are you keeping secrets from us?" she demanded.  Izzy began to sweat.

            "Well, you see, um," Izzy cleared his throat as he realized that he was going to tell them one way or another.  "Well, like Davis, I also meet someone during the World Tour.  She was fairly nice looking and very intelligent.  We just hit it off.  And like Davis mentioned, since everyone can now open digiports, it's not like we can't see each other."

            "Well who is she?"  Cody asked.

            "Her name is Mina and she is from India."

            "But I thought that Mina was partnered with a Meramon?"  Kari asked, remembering the quiet, polite Indian girl that she and Izzy had helped cross the India/China border with a herd of wild digimon.

            "Candlemon is her Meramon's rookie form," Tentomon explained.  "She's very nice and kind of cute," he admitted.

            "Looks like all of the digidestined are falling in love," TK commented.

            "Not all of us," Yolei scoffed.

            "Willis emailed me yesterday to tell me that he's got a girlfriend."  Yolei's jaw dropped while Cody and Davis laughed.  Kari just smiled.

            "Good for him," she commented.  "What's her digimon?"

            "A Biyomon that digivolves to an Airdramon.  He described her as redheaded, green-eyed, and the most beautiful thing on the planet."  TK paused while a smile formed on his lips.  "Of course, he could be just a little biased in this case."  This sent everyone into another fit of laughter.

            "Kari, can I talk to you for a minute?"  Kari looked up from her comfortable position, snuggled up in TK's arms to look at her brother.  The look she gave him was cold and unyielding.  "It'll just take a minute," he hastily added.  Kari gave no indication that she was going to move, but TK took her arms from around his neck and nudged her to stand.

            "Go on, Love," he encouraged.  "I'll be right here when you get back."  Kari gave TK one last look and a quick kiss before she turned and left with Tai.

            "So are you going to tell us what's wrong with Kari?"  Yolei demanded.  The food portion of the picnic had ended an hour ago, and the group had splintered into smaller groups that ebbed and flowed as the people chose.  TK looked up to see Yolei standing over him with her hands on her hips, Ken hovering protectively nearby.

            "Kari and Tai got into an argument last night," he answered.

            "Over what?"  Ken spoke up.  By now everyone was drifting over to see what was up.  The tension between Kari and Tai had been palpable this afternoon, and Tai had spoken very little during lunch.  Also, Kari and TK had waited until Tai had sat down to come to lunch and they deliberately chose a spot as far away from Tai as possible.

            "I'd rather not say," TK responded.  "It's not my place to say," he continued when Yolei looked like she was about to protest.  "It's between Kari and Tai."

            "It has to do with your relationship," Joe commented.

            "She was a lot more open about your relationship than she usually is," Cody added.

            "Almost like she needed to make a point of it," Mimi concluded.  "What is it Davis?"  Davis had suddenly gone very pale.

            "He didn't.  Did he?"  He looked TK in the eyes for several seconds before TK sighed and nodded his head slightly.  For his part, Davis dropped his head into his hands.

            "What are you talking about?"  Ken asked.

            "Tai criticized Kari's relationship with TK," Sora supplied from where she and Matt had moved to stand next to TK in an obvious show of support.  Everyone stood dead still for almost a minute, trying to absorb what they had just heard.

            "Why?"  Davis finally asked.  "After everything that happened last year, how could he…" Davis suddenly shut up as he realized that he had said too much.

            "What happened last year?"  Cody demanded.  TK, Davis, Sora and Matt remained silent.  "Something happened last year that changed a whole lot and I think it's about time that we knew what it was."

            "What do you mean?"  Mimi asked, perplexed.

            "Last year at almost the same time, Sora and Matt got together, Davis stopped chasing after Kari, TK vanished for several days, and when he reappeared, he and Kari were going out," Joe supplied.  "You were still finalizing moving back to Japan, so you missed most of it."

            "Cody's right," Izzy added.  "It's about time that you guys told us what happened."  TK seamed to shrink back more and more into himself.

            "TK, what happened?"  Ken asked.

            "None of your business," Kari responded as she and Tai came back out from the trees where they had been talking.  She went to TK and dropped down to hug him.

            "Actually, we think it is our business," Yolei retorted.  "It obviously affects you guys, so it affects the rest of us, too."  TK suddenly stood up and began to walk away from everyone.  Kari got up and ran after him.

            "It's none of your business," Tai repeated as he and Matt moved to block the others from reaching the couple, while Sora went over to talk to them.  "Not until TK decides to tell you," he added.

            "I take it that you and Kari resolved your differences?"  Izzy asked.  Tai nodded.

            "Glad to hear it," Agumon spoke up from where the digimon stood in a small group.  "You were becoming hard to live with."  Tai smiled just as Sora returned.

            "They're going to head back to the apartment," she reported.

            "But it's only four o'clock," Ken pointed out.

            "Well maybe if you hadn't all ganged up on TK," Sora began to shout, but she was stopped when Matt hugged her from behind and she seamed to calm somewhat.  The picnic broke up at that point as everyone began to gather up their things and their digimon.  Everyone went home, but most of them still had unanswered questions.

            Matt called a meeting the next day at three o'clock at TK's apartment.  He refused to say what it was about, only that it was important that everyone be there.  So, by three o'clock everyone sat somewhere in the Takaishi apartment.

            "Well, let's get started," Matt began standing up from his place on the sofa next to Sora.  "Yesterday, you all wanted to know about what happened last year.  Well, TK finally agreed that you should all know."

            "I didn't have much choice," TK muttered from his place in the recliner.  Kari sat on the arm of the chair and the two were holding hands.  "Not with you, Sora and Tai badgering me to let you tell them."

            "It's for the best," Kari assured him.

            "Traitor," TK accused, although his smile took most of the bit out of it.

            "So what happened?"  Cody asked from the floor.

            "TK tried to commit suicide," Sora answered.  The entire room fell dead silent.

            "This is a joke, right?"  Mimi asked.  She nearly fainted when Matt shook his head.

            "Why," Cody demanded.

            "It seamed like a good idea at the time," TK answered.  Ken clamped a hand on Cody's shoulder to prevent him from standing.

            "I think that you should tell us everything."  His voice was cold and detached, but his eyes broadcast his feelings of shock and hurt.

            "There isn't that much to tell," TK shrugged.

            "Bull shit."  TK began to realize just how seriously everyone was taking this.  Ken almost never swore.

            "It was just after New Years Day, last year," Kari began.  "I had decided to go watch Davis' soccer game.  After his team won I went up to congratulate him.  He suggested that we go grab a bit to eat, and I agreed.  We were walking near here when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my heart.  I can't explain it, I just knew that something was wrong with TK.  Davis and I ran up to the apartment, where we found the door locked.  TK had given me a key when he first moved in, and I used it to get us in.  Inside we found TK in the bathroom.  He had cut his wrists.  There was blood everywhere."  Kari broke off at that point as she began to shake.  TK pulled her down into his lap and encircled her with his arms.

            "Kari stayed with him to try and stop the bleeding," Davis picked up.  "I called an ambulance.  Between the two of us, we managed to keep him alive until the paramedics arrived.  They managed to stop the bleeding, but he was still in pretty bad shape.  We both rode in the ambulance with TK to the hospital."

            "That was you?"  Yolei interrupted.  "I knew that an ambulance had come to the complex that day, but I never did find out who it was for."

            "Anyway," Davis continued, "we got to the hospital and they tried to stabilize him, but they weren't having much luck.  While we were waiting, I called Matt."

            "I was in the middle of band practice when my cell went off," Matt continued.  "About all Davis told me was that TK was in the hospital and to hurry.  I just dropped everything and ran.  When I got there, TK was still fairly busy dying.  A doctor came in and asked me some questions."  He turned to look at TK.  "Apparently, the fact that you were two years older than you should have been concerned them.  They finally managed to stabilize him and they moved him to an intensive care unit.  After they managed to pull his butt from the fire I called Dad and told him what had happened.  Actually," he conceded, "I still didn't have a clue as to what had happened.  The words "TK" and "hospital" seemed to motivate Dad though.  He got to the hospital in about fifteen minutes."

            "From the TV station?"  Izzy asked incredulously.  Matt nodded.

            "I gather that he speed a little.  Anyway, they let us in one at a time to see him.  Then they had us wait out in the lobby.  A doctor came along and began to ask Dad some questions.  Then the police came.  That was when I first heard that it was a suicide attempt.  I called Tai, but he was out, and a message on the machine just seemed wrong."

            "The doctors came by about an hour later," Kari went on.  "They said that he had lost a lot of blood and that he needed a transfusion.  They checked all our medical records and had found that TK and I are the same blood type.  I agreed to let them draw some of my blood to give to him, and afterwards, he began to mend.  He was unconscious for about two days.  By the time he had woken up, we had decided to keep it among ourselves and to keep the rest of you guys in the dark."

            "How did you two get involved?"  Ken asked, turning to look at Tai and Sora.

            "I got involved when Tai called me late that night asking if Kari was at my home," Sora answered.  "I told him that she wasn't and to try TK's.  He told me that he already had, but no one had answered.  For some reason this sent off warning bells in my head.  I called Matt's number and no one answered, so I called Matt's cell.  When he answered he sounded exhausted.  When I asked him where he was, he told me he was at the hospital.  I hung up in a bit of a hurry," she confessed.  "When I got to the hospital, Matt was on the brink of exhaustion, Kari was an emotional wreck and Mr. Ishida was talking to a police officer in a very low voice.  Davis was with them, telling them what he and Kari and seen when they had found TK.  It took me nearly an hour to calm Kari down, and by then, I had a general sort of idea about what had happened."

            "She talked me into calling Tai," Matt admitted.  "I told him everything that had happened and told him to get to the hospital.  When he got there, he and Sora talked for a minute and then Tai took over consoling Kari."

            "And I started to console Matt," Sora added.  

            "That answers all our questions except one," Joe admitted.  "Why?"  He asked turning towards TK.  

            TK sighed.  "It had been a rough year," he started.  "All of our battles with BlackWargreymon had ended in defeat.  It finally took a move of pure dumb luck to save the entire universe from destruction.  Then we discovered that Arukenymon and Mummymon could send armies of digimon into the real world.  The basketball season was suffering because I was so tired all of the time.  They had all been counting on me, and I let them down.  My grades were starting to go down to the point of academic probation.  Matt had been so absorbed in his band that I hardly ever talked to him anymore.  Mom and Dad hate me, so I saw no reason to stick around.  I didn't think that anyone would miss me."

            "How could you think that?"  Izzy demanded.  "We're your friends, of course we would miss you!"

            "When was the last time that you and I had talked outside of a crisis?"  TK asked in a quiet tone.  Izzy groped for an answer for a few moments before finally shaking his head in defeat.

            "Why didn't you talk to us about this?"  Joe asked.

            "When?  How?  You were always too busy with schoolwork and studying for some test or another.  Matt was working with his band full time, trying to make it successful.  Tai had soccer, Sora had tennis, Mimi was away in America and Izzy was always working on something about the digital world."

            "What about us?"  Yolei demanded.  "Do we mean so little to you?"

            "You were working at your families store full time when you weren't with us in the digital world or at school, Cody was always at kendo practice, Davis and I never really got along back then and Ken lived too far away and we didn't know each other very well."

            "What about Kari?"  Mimi asked.  TK remained silent.  "Well?"

            "Kari was part of the problem," TK finally admitted.  "I was just beginning to realize how I felt about her, but Davis was still trying to win her heart.  I knew that she wouldn't want to have to choose between the two of us, so I kept my mouth shut.  And pretty soon she started to spend time with Davis.  I barely saw her at all during the week before Christmas.  About the only times I saw her were when we surprised all of the original digidestined with their digimon and at Ken's party.  One of the reasons I went to Ken's party instead of Matt's concert was that Kari was going to be there."

            "Why do you think your parents hate you?"  Cody asked in a subdued voice.  The startled looks on everyone's faces indicated that most of them had missed that remark.

            "Well, they do," TK explained.

            "Why do you think that?"  Matt asked, his concern evident on his face.

            "I am the reason that they broke up in the first place.  Don't try and deny it," he rebuffed Matt as he tried to protest.  "I may have been four years old at the time, but I was old enough to her them yelling about how I hadn't been wanted.  Now I never see Dad unless I'm over with you and then he's distant to me.  Mom's away all the time.  Every time she's home, it feels like she's just waiting for an excuse to leave on another assignment.  I know that they don't love me Matt.  I've dealt with it."

            Everyone remained silent for the next few minutes, trying to process everything that had been said in the past hour.  Finally Joe stood up and went over to TK.

            "But you are loved," he countered, lying a hand on TK's shoulder.  "By all of the digidestined, by Patamon, even by your parents.  We all love you TK.  It's as simple as that."  He sighed as TK just shook his head in denial.  "Well, it's getting kind of late and I think that we all need time to think about this.  How about we get together tomorrow for a picnic in the digital world.  We can talk more than."  A sly smile appeared on his face.  "Besides, that will give us a chance to meet Izzy and Davis' new lady-friends.  And TK, come and have fun.  We all do love you.  Some more obviously than others," he smiled at Kari.  The others all agreed and decided to meet at Digitamamon's restaurant.  Then everyone said their good-byes and left TK and Kari alone.


	3. Confrontations

            **Chapter 3**

            It was late in the afternoon when the older digidestined meet in a small diner near the high school.  The diner had long ago become a meeting spot for them after they had all stopped in at the same time to have a cup of coffee before school.  Tai, Joe, Izzy, Mimi, Matt and Sora all sat in what had rapidly become their booth.  It was in one of the back corners, fairly out of the way and inconspicuous, but offered an excellent view of the door from any spot in the booth.

            "I think I speak for all of us when I say that TK surprised me this afternoon," Izzy began.  "I never had any idea that he felt that way."  Joe, Mimi, and Tai all nodded in agreement, but Sora slowly shook her head.

            "I don't know," she reluctantly spoke up.  "I was seeing signs that something was wrong for a while before he tried to kill himself."

            "Like what?"  Mimi asked intently.

            "Little things at first.  He called me up one afternoon, a couple of weeks after they had returned Ken to the side of good.  He was wondering if I could come over for dinner so that the two of us could talk.  There was a hint of disappointment in his voice when I told him that I couldn't because I had tennis practice.  I suggested something about calling one of you guys instead, but he just mumbled something about you not understanding and hung up."  Sora took a sip from her soda, looking thoughtful.  "Looking back on it, I think that he wanted my help in dealing with his feelings for Kari."  Matt nodded in agreement.

            "I remember that time.  I had just started to work full-time on the band.  We were starting to get serious and were working on some songs for an album.  I remember that I didn't see TK much then.  We never really had time to bond or anything.  I always felt kind of bad that I was putting off time with my little brother, but this was important to me and to the other guys.  I always just figured that he would understand."  Matt heaved a sigh of regret.  "I never thought that he would think that I was abandoning him."

            "I think that's our main problem," Joe spoke up.  "We all remember what troopers TK and Kari were in the digital world and we always kind of see them with that same level of maturity, but we keep forgetting that they're just kids.  Legally, they're only sixteen.  They grew up fast in the digital world because they had too.  Unfortunately, we kept thinking of them that way after we came home.  At least Kari has you, Tai, and your mom and dad.  I can't imagine what it must have been like for TK."  They all sat, deep in thought for several minutes.  Finally Izzy spoke up.

            "Then what do we do about it?"

            "Well," Matt responded, "after we play this next gig, the band is going to be taking a vacation.  We've been working really hard for the last few months, so we're going to take a break.  I was trying to think of something where TK and I could get away and spend some time together.  Unfortunately, I'm fresh out of ideas."  After a moment Mimi spoke up.

            "How about some time in the digital world?"

            "TK and the others tend to go there a lot more often that we do," Joe reminded her.  "He probably wouldn't find the idea of a trip to the digital world that refreshing."

            "What about a camping trip, though?  All of us digidestined could go, new and old, and we could get together all of the digimon who helped us during the wars, and we could have a giant party!"

            "No dice," Matt responded.  "This is TK we're talking about.  I doubt very much that he would find a wild party very relaxing.  I do like that idea of all of us going up together, though.  It might give him a better feeling of family."

            "How about a cabin up in the woods?" Joe suggested.  "My mom and dad own a nice cabin up in the woods near Kyoto.  It's a fairly big place, so we could probably fit everyone inside.  We'd have to do some room sharing though."

            "That might work," Matt conceded.  "How isolated is it?"

            "Not at all.  It used to be part of a ski resort, but it went out of business.  Rather than tear all of the cabins down, the owners sold them to a number of people.  My parents managed to afford the main ski lodge."

            "It would be perfect," Sora commented.  "We would all be together, but we could probably split up and do things individually so we wouldn't feel smothered."

            "So it's decided?"  Joe asked.  Everyone nodded.  "Then why don't we suggest it tomorrow at the picnic.  Then we can all decide when we can go."  Everyone agreed and they called the waitress over for their check.  As they were waiting for her to come back with the change, Matt turned to look at Sora.

            "Hey, do you think your mom would mind if I crashed at your place tonight?"

            "No, probably not.  Why?"  Matt made a face.

            "Dad got a day off tomorrow, which means that first thing in the morning, he's going to be up moping about what he could be getting done at work today."

            "Why did he ask for a day off then?"  Izzy wondered.

            "Who said he asked for it?"  Matt replied.  "Every now and then the staff at the TV station gets sick of Dad being there twenty-four seven and tell him to go home and get some sleep.  He goes home after an hour of arguing, passes out once his head hits the pillow, sleeps for fourteen hours and then wakes up and putters around the house looking for some excuse to go back to work."  The others were laughing so hard by now that they were starting to cry.  By the time they all finally calmed down, the waitress had brought their change and the six of them stepped out into the brisk summer evening.  They all began to walk in the general direction of the apartment complex where most of them lived.  Finally, Sora spoke up.

            "I've got an idea.  Why doesn't everyone sleep over tonight?  It would certainly make it easier for my mom to accept and we have the room."  They all thought about it for a moment and then began to nod enthusiastically.

            "That's a great idea!"  Mimi cried as she practically jumped into the air with joy.  "Let's hurry up and get in touch with everyone and see who can make it."  They all hurried to Sora's apartment and began to make telephone calls.  As it turned out, it was fairly easy to find most of the new digidetined.  Yolei and Ken were having dinner at Cody's apartment and Davis was at home trying to think of a way to get away form his house for the next few hours after his sister Jun had blabbed to their parents that he had a girlfriend.  However, no one answered at TK's apartment, even thought Yolei assured them that TK and Kari had still been there when they had left.  Sora sighed as she hung up after talking with Yolei and looked at Matt.

            "Looks like we have to go give the invitation in person," she commented.  Matt nodded and retrieved his car keys.

            "I'll go with you," Tai volunteered.  Sora gave Matt a worried look.  Matt thought for a moment and finally nodded.  Sora's eyes went wide for a moment, but quickly nodded in agreement.

            "Alright Tai," Sora replied.  "Why don't you meet us down on the street.  Matt and I need to talk privately, and it will be faster for us to talk while we go get the car."  Tai nodded in agreement and the three of them retrieved their shoes and left.

            "Why are you bringing Tai?"  Sora demanded once he was out of earshot.  "You know what the two of them are probably doing.  You do want your brother to keep breathing, don't you?"

            "Don't be silly," Matt countered.  "But do you think for a moment that TK and Kari will want to sleep anywhere but with each other at the cabin?  It's probably best to get Tai used to the idea of them sharing a bed now so he doesn't make a huge scene when we get to the cabin."  The two of them stopped as they got to the car.  "Sora, please try to see things my way.  I'm walking a fine line here between protecting by brother and his girlfriend and telling my best friend what he really should know about what his sister is doing and who she's doing it with."  Sora looked up into those blue eyes that made her melt.  Hidden deep in their recesses lurked the pain that he was feeling from having to lie to his best friend.  "And none of this even takes into account my feelings on the matter."

            "I know," Sora admitted, pulling him into a hug.  "I know how tough all of this has been for you." 

            "Yeah.  I just hope that in the end, I made all of the right choices."

"You will," Sora assured him.  "It's in your nature to do what you think is best for everyone else.  And it's in my nature to do what I know is best for you."  She leaned up and their lips brushed together for a moment.  "We need to get going.  Tai's waiting."  Matt smiled and opened the door for her.

            Tai knocked on the door for the third time, his irritation written across his face.  He muttered something incoherent and raised his hand to knock again.  Matt and Sora stood behind him, one on either side.  Both were quiet and had been since their conversation in the parking garage earlier and they were absorbed in their own thoughts.  Tai knocked for a forth time and started to turn towards Matt when the door opened.  He turned back, ready to make a smart comment, but the words died in his throat.  Standing in the doorway was Kari, wearing nothing but a button down shirt of TK's.

            "Oh hell," Kari murmured as she saw her brother.  "I really need to start seeing who it is before I open the door."

            "It couldn't hurt," Sora replied.  Tai was still opening and closing his mouth, trying to make it work.

            "Mind if we come in?" Matt asked.  "It might be better if we have the impending conversation inside."  Kari motioned for them to come in and closed the door behind them.  After they had removed their shoes, she lead them into the living room, where she sat down on the recliner and pulled her legs up under her.

            "What are you guys doing here?" she asked.

            "What are you doing here half dressed?" Tai finally exploded.

            "Quiet!" Kari hissed.  "TK just dropped off to sleep a few minutes ago, and I don't want you waking him up!"

            "Is he alright?"  Matt looked up from where he was leaning against the wall, concern written on his face.

            "A little tired," Kari admitted.  "This afternoon was very draining for him.  He isn't used to voicing his feelings and it took a lot out of him."  Matt looked noticeably relieved.

            "Now answer my question," Tai demanded.  "What are you doing here, dressed in only a shirt?"

            "Nothing, actually," Kari admitted with a shrug.  "TK and I have just found that we prefer to not have clothing in the way when we sleep together.  We like the feeling of bare skin against bare skin.  It's very comforting," she admitted after a moment.  Tai's face was livid and he began to pace the room like a caged tiger.  "Sit down," Kari ordered.  "I don't want you waking TK up."  Tai stopped his pacing, but remained standing.

            "How, exactly, did you two make this discovery," he asked through clenched teeth.

            "How else," Kari replied.  "What do you want me to say Tai," she asked.  "That TK and I aren't lovers?  That I'm still a virgin?  That we don't both love and respect each other enough to take our relationship to this step?  Well, tough.  I love you too much to try and lie to you."

            "How can you guys be so calm about this?" Tai asked Sora and Matt.  Then a realization dawned on him.  "You knew, didn't you?" he accused.  "That's why you tried to make me accept their relationship earlier."

            "We only found out today," Sora rushed to assure him.  "We found out by accident, this morning."

            "That still doesn't change anything," Tai complained.  "You should have told me what was happening."

            "Why?" Matt asked.  "Do you honestly think that anything you or I say will make them change their minds?  Your and Kari's relationship was already on rocky ground.  We were focusing on trying to repair the damage."  Tai still looked sullen.

            "Can't a guy get some sleep?"  The question came from TK, who stood in the hallway leading back to the bedrooms, clad only in a pair of blue jeans.  Kari stood and went over to TK, casting a glare at Tai, Matt and Sora.  "Now what's going on?" he inquired as he and Kari embraced.

            "We came over to see if you two wanted to spend the night at my house," Sora replied.

            "Who's going to be there?" TK asked.

            "Everyone," Matt answered.  "We called all the digidestined and they're all coming."

            "Well then we shouldn't disappoint everyone else by being the only wet blankets," TK replied with a grin.  Kari nodded in response and the two left the room to get ready.


	4. Party Time

Chapter 4 

            When they got back to Sora's house, everyone else had arrived and there were several pizzas sitting on the kitchen counter.  The five of them all grabbed slices and sat down.  The group talked for an hour about just little things.  Finally the conversation turned towards the next days picnic.

            "So are they going to be there?" Mimi asked Davis and Izzy.  Both of them nodded in confirmation.

            "I got in touch with her right before she was going to go to bed," Davis confirmed.  "She's looking forward to meeting all of you.  She's also going to bring a few of her friends."  He turned towards Mimi with a twinkle in his eye.  "Michael says hi,"

            "Oh my god!  Michael's going to come?"  Mimi gushed.  "I need to find something new to wear tomorrow!"

            "You already have an outfit picked out, and Michael loves you no matter what you're wearing," Sora pointed out.

            "Anyone else that we know?"  Izzy asked.

            "Just one or two others," Davis admitted nonchalantly.  TK studied Davis' seemingly innocent expression.

            "Alright, what are you hiding?" he demanded.  "I know you too well, and you're hiding something.  Now who else is coming?"  Davis grinned.

            "Now that would be telling."  He held up his hand to forestall any further questions.  "It's a surprise and Maria spent quite a bit of time setting it up.  She'd kill me if I just told you guys and ruined all her planning."

            "And Mina's really looking forward to this too," Izzy confirmed.  "She says that if Kari and I are any indication, then it should be really interesting to meet the entire group."  He turned towards Kari.  "She says that she's also looking forward to meeting TK," he commented.

            "How did she find out about me?" TK asked, slightly perplexed.  Kari let out a nervous cough as Izzy's face broke out in a broad grin.

            "Probably from when Kari described you to the Poi brothers," he responded.  TK looked at Kari, his curiosity evident.  Kari let out a sigh and gave Izzy a dirty look.

            "When we went to Hong Kong during the World Tour, the first digidetined that we met were three brothers who all had Syakomon.  They all kind of developed a crush on me."

            "All three of them?"  Joe demanded, trying to hold back his laughter.

            "Yes," Kari responded.  "They were nice enough, but there were times when it was like dealing with three versions of Davis."  By now everyone was laughing except Kari.  Even TK was having a hard time holding back his laughter.  "I finally got them to back off by telling them that I was taken."

            "You lied to them?" Tai asked, still chuckling.

            "Not exactly," Kari replied quietly.  "I told them about an angel from heaven who was my best friend and protector and how I was just waiting for him to make the first move."  TK smiled and leaned over and kiss her.

            They spent the next few hours in idle chitchat and around midnight they all began to drift off to sleep.  Tai, rather surprisingly, didn't object at all when TK and Kari lay down together on some spare blankets and went to sleep, although he did look rather sullen.

            The next day dawned bright and sunny.  Kari woke up to a feeling of emptiness.  Looking over she confirmed that TK was missing.  As she got up to look for him, the smell of breakfast drifted to her nose.  Her curiosity peaked, she softly padded into the kitchen.  TK stood next to the stove, clad only in a pair of boxers and a tank top.  Kari smiled and moved to hug him from behind.  If TK was surprised by her sudden appearance he didn't show it.

            "Morning, Love," he greeted her as he continued to fry bacon.  "Sleep well?"

            "Until you left," she playfully accused.  TK turned around and gave her a brief kiss.  "Should I wake the others?"  She asked indicating the already prepared plates.

            "That wonderful smell should be enough to wake even Davis up," Ken commented from the doorway that separated the kitchen from the living room where they had all gone to sleep.

            "Morning Ken," TK greeted the blue hared boy.  Ken nodded in reply.

            "Smells wonderful," the guineas commented gesturing towards the plates.  "Where did you learn to cook so well."

            "Necessity," TK smiled.  "TV dinners get really old really fast.  Matt showed me most of the basics."

            "And its days like this that I'm glad I did," Matt commented from behind Ken.  Sora stood next to him, and there were signs that the rest of the group was waking up to the smells of a wonderful breakfast.  Kari, Ken and Matt all helped TK move the breakfast plates out to the living room and to the large oak table that Sora's father had bought several years ago to serve as a dinning table.

            Breakfast was a fairly quiet affaire.  It was pretty much a buffet atmosphere with everyone sitting where they could.  Since the number of people far outweighed the number of available seats, the resemblance to musical chairs was unstoppable.  After breakfast, everyone began to get dressed in various places and occasionally in groups.  They had decided to leave from Sora's for the Digital World last night.  So finally, around one in the afternoon, they all gathered around Sora's computer with the food and their digimon.

            "If you would do the honors," TK indicated to Sora.  She smiled and held up her D-3.

            "Digi-port open!"  With a bright flash, the entire group and their digimon were drawn into the Digital World.

            They emerged next to a large lake.  A lush green forest sat nearby and across the lake stood a large diner.  They all took a moment to gather in the beautiful scenery of the Digital World and then started towards the diner.  It took them roughly a half an hour to reach the diner.  Waiting outside were several children roughly there same age, each with a digimon partner.

            The first one on the right was a dark-skinned young woman with flowing black hair wearing an orange and red colored sari.  The Candlemon by her side confirmed her identity as Mina, the Indian digidestined.  Next to her where two men and another woman.  The men were both fairly tall, though one was slightly taller than the other, and had blonde hair while the woman was more petit and had red hair.  The tall one they immediately identified as Michael, with his Betamon partner swimming in the lake.  The other boy though.

            "Willis!"  TK shouted and bolted ahead of the rest of the group.  The shorter blonde looked up from where he had been talking to the redheaded woman and a broad grin broke out on his face.  He ran towards TK and the two friends met half way.  The two exchanged a brief but fierce hug and then fell into conversation.  They seemed oblivious to the rest of the digidestined until Kari walked up to TK and he put his arm around her as she stood next to him.  The redhead did the same with Willis though he wrapped his arm around her waist.  The four of them moved off to the side and engaged in a quiet conversation.  The rest of the digidestined greeted the others. Izzy introduced everyone to Mina and her Candlemon.  Meanwhile, Davis was looking around, a worried expression on his face.  Michael broke off from where he had been talking to Joe and Mimi and laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

            "She probably just had to finish up some chores or something," he commented.  "She'll be here.  Maria wouldn't miss this for the world."  Davis smiled at Michael in gratitude and nodded.  He and Michael moved back to where the rest of the digidestined were standing and joined in on the conversations.  After a little while, TK, Kari, Willis and his girlfriend came over to where the others were standing.

            "Everyone, this is Rachel," Willis introduced.  Everyone greeted her and the group began to talk about where to set up for the picnic.  Davis sat back, not having anything to contribute at the moment.  He was beginning to get worried.  Maria had said that she was going to be here, and yet…  His train of thought was broken when a pair of feminine hands reached around from behind and covered his eyes.  At the same moment, Davis felt warm breath on his neck and a petite mouth began to leave butterfly kisses on his neck.

            "Guess who," a soft voice breathed into his ear.

            "If you aren't Maria, I'm in deep trouble," Davis joked, turning around to look into her eyes.

            "Damn right you'd be," Maria laughed before the two kissed. 

            Now that the group was complete, they began to seriously consider where to set up their picnic.  TK and Kari finally ended the debate with the expedient method of getting up and leaving.  They made no real noise as they left and they didn't respond to the repeated calls by various people to say where they were going.  Everyone finally stood up and followed them.  The couple's silence seemed to set the mood for the group. No one spoke while they all followed TK and Kari around the lake until they were on the opposite side.  TK and Kari then veered into the forest, following a seemingly meandering path through the trees.  The path twisted and turned so much that after a while no one knew for sure which direction they were going in.

            Roughly half-an-hour later, TK and Kari suddenly turned into a thicket of trees and disappeared from sight.  Ken and Yolei were immediately behind them and saw them slip through an opening in a clump of bushes.  Ken and Yolei exchanged a questioning glance and then slipped through the bushes and the others followed.  They struggled through the bushes for a minute, guided only by the slight path that TK and Kari had left in their wake.  They finally emerged into paradise.

            It was a slopping cliff that ended rather abruptly about fifty yards from the edge of the bushes and hung out above the water.  At one point the cliff and the water connected, forming a kind of beach.  Bushes and trees surrounded the entire cliff, so that it was cut off from the rest of the forest.  The grass was green and lush and the water of the lake sparkled blue and inviting.  Everyone stood in awe, looking around, as TK and Kari started to set up the blanket and food for the picnic.  Davis was the first to break the silence.

            "This place is awesome!"  His exclamation seemed to jerk everyone out of their trances and they quickly made their way down to the center of the clearing where TK and Kari had set out the food.  They all sat around for two hours just eating, talking and enjoying the serenity.

            "How did you know about this place?"  Davis finally asked TK and Kari.  The two exchanged a nervous glance, before TK replied.

            "We just kind of stumbled upon it when we were exploring one day."  Davis didn't buy it.

            "This place doesn't seem like the kind of place that you would just stumble upon," he commented.

            "We were flying," Kari answered.  "Nefertimon and Pegasusmon were taking us up for a flight and we did some airborne reconnaissance and spotted this place.  We thought about it when you guys mentioned wanting to do a picnic."

            "What else?" Ken asked suspiciously.  "I know you two well enough to know that you wouldn't have just immediately thought of this place if it didn't have some significance to the both of you.  What is it?"

            "I don't know what you're talking about," TK responded with a look that said 'It's none of your business, so butt out.'  Ken didn't take the hint.

            "What's so special about this place that you two didn't even think of at least half a dozen other places that were closer than this place."

            "He's got a point," Cody chimed in.  "When we started talking about where to have the picnic, you two just got up and made a beeline for this place."

            "Look," TK exploded, "if you don't like that place, then go find your own picnic spot.  We just thought that you might like this place.  Excuse me for trying to be helpful!"  With that, TK stood up and stormed off into the forest.  Kari shot Ken, Davis and Cody looks of death and took off after TK.  Everyone sat stunned for a minute.  Joe finally broke the silence.

            "Well that was nice," he commented to Ken.  "Why didn't you just pull a knife on him?  At least that would have been fairly direct."  Ken looked around confused.

            "What did I do?"  Yolei shook her head.

            "Honey, you may be a guineas, but sometimes you can be so dense."

            "TK felt that you were attacking him," Sora supplied from her place in Matt's lap.

            "But I was just trying to get him to open up some more," Ken defended.  Matt let out a short bark of laughter.

            "That's not TK's style," he explained.  "He's very slow to open up to anyone.  I'm sure that the only person who has seen all of TK is Kari.  She's probably the only one he trusts enough to bear his soul too."

            "Not really," Sora countered.  "TK just doesn't see his problems as being very important.  He'll go out of his way to help someone else work out their problems, but he doesn't want to burden other people with his own worries.  Kari just isn't giving him that choice.  She's making him put some of his problems on her shoulders."

            "What kind of problems?"  Davis finally asked.  "I mean, TK's always been the rock, you know?  He's always there for us when we need him and he's always so optimistic about our battles."  Sora shook her head sadly.

            "He's still only human," she replied softly.  "You have to remember that TK was the first one of use to kill and is the only one of us to have actually lost his digimon, even if it was only temporary.  And all of this happened when he was only eight years old."

            "He hates fighting," Matt picked up.  "He just feels that it's his responsibility to fight so that no one else has to."

            "I'm going to go apologize," Ken spoke up.

            "Where were you going to start looking?" Tai asked bluntly.  Ken gave him a helpless look.  "He and Kari'll be alright," Tai continued.  "They've known each other so long that watching each other's backs is instinct.  Besides, Kari could find TK anywhere.  They'll be back," he said with a note of certainty in his voice.

            "And where are you going?" Matt asked Willis as he stood up.

            "I thought that I'd go for a dip," he replied as he removed his shirt.  Mimi looked at him skeptically.

            "I didn't think you brought a swim suit," she commented.

            "I didn't," he shrugged as he unbuttoned his pants and began to walk to the edge of the lake.

            "You're going to go skinny dipping?" Izzy asked incredulously. 

            "Why not?" Willis asked.  "I don't know much about Japan, but in Nebraska we do it all the time in the summer to cool off."  Davis shrugged and pulled off his shirt as he stood up.  "Well, why not?" he demanded.  Several others also began to strip.  Soon the water was filled with laughing, naked digidestined.

            Kari moved through the forest with a sureness that she didn't feel.  She knew instinctively where TK was.  The two of them had been able to sense each other for years now.  She smiled at the memory of when TK moved back to Odiba.  She had not seen him for three years, but that day she had known that he was going to be in her class that year.

            She could feel him up ahead in an area where the trees thinned somewhat, so she stopped to considered her options.  TK had been on edge about taking the others to the clearing, and Ken's digging hadn't helped matters any.  She knew on an intellectual level that Ken was their friend and that he was only trying to help, but emotionally, she was pissed at him.

            That clearing was special to them, though.  TK had found it on an aerial survey just after Ken had been turned back to the side of light.  He had taken her there one night after a school dance four months after they had started going out.  It was there that they had first said that they loved each other.  She glanced down at her finger and the small gold band that encircled her left ring finger.  It was also where he had proposed to her.  They weren't planning on getting married for several more years yet, but the fact was that they knew that they would.  That was also the first night that they had made love.

            She knew that part of TK's frustration was from how much of their relationship they had to keep a secret.  She knew that TK wanted to scream about it from the rooftops, and, to be perfectly honest, so did she.  But Japan was still a changing culture.  It was no longer common place for teenagers to marry and have children.  The law would look fairly harshly upon their actions.  So they had to stay quiet.  There was no getting around that.  Kari finally decided to play it by ear.

            She walked into the clearing, trying to stay as silent as possible.  She found TK sitting beneath a massive pine tree.  His face seemed serene, but his eyes held a look of sadness in them.  Kari sat down next to him and the two stayed silent for a few minutes until TK finally spoke up.

            "Guess I really screwed up back there, huh?" 

            "They'll forgive you," Kari replied.  TK let out a massive sigh and dropped his head in his hands.  Kari gave him a look of concern.  "Are you still having those headaches?" she demanded.

            "It's nothing," TK dismissed.  "I'll be fine," he assured her, looking up and giving her a wan smile.

            "I thought that we agreed that you'd talk to Joe about them if they didn't get any better," Kari reminded him.

            "They're nothing.  I can handle them."  Kari sighed in defeat and hugged him.

            "I'm just worried about you," she murmured against his chest.  TK sighed and leaned his head back against the tree trunk.  Kari maneuvered herself so that she was lying curled up next to TK with her head resting on his chest.

            "We should probably get back to the others," TK pointed out after a while.  Kari mumbled something unintelligible.  "Kari, I mean it," TK prompted.  Kari responded by slipping her hands up under his shirt and racking her nails down his chest.  "Stop that," TK laughed.  Kari relented for a moment, then she began to kiss his stomach.  "Kari!  We don't have time, Love," TK pointed out while struggling to maintain his fabled self-control.  Kari pulled his shirt up over his arms and kissed his right nipple.  'Screw it,' TK thought as he pulled Kari up for a passionate kiss.  The two looked into each other's eyes for a moment as TK began to undo the buttons on her blouse.  He finished and removed it, tossing it to the side to join his own shirt.

            "I thought we didn't have time," Kari giggled as TK removed her bra.

            "We'll make time," TK breathed into her breasts.  TK gently lowered her to the soft grass and traced a line down her left side with his hand.  "You are so beautiful," he whispered.

            "If you say so," Kari blushed.  TK let out a throaty laugh and kissed her.

            "I love you," he whispered into her ear.


	5. Reminicing and a concert

Chapter 5 

            It was late afternoon when TK and Kari returned to the beach to find everyone else naked and laughing in the lake.  Most of their digimon were napping, although Gomamon couldn't resist playing around in the water with Betamon.

            "Hey, guys!" Davis called from the lake where a rather large game of Marco Polo was being played.  "Come on in!  The water's great!"  TK and Kari glanced at each other and quickly shed their clothes to join the others in the cool water of the lake.  The group played around for several hours before they eventually wore out and returned to dry land.  Mimi pointed out the obvious lack of towels to dry off with, but TK and Matt had a fairly simple solution.  They moved to the sunniest part of the clearing and lay down.

            "What are you guys doing?" Sora demanded.

            "Drying off," TK answered nonchalantly.

            "Care to join us?" Matt added.  Soon everyone was lying in the sun.  After a while Rachel spoke up.

            "Am I the only one who finds this unnerving?" 

            "What?" Tai asked.

            "All of this.  Going skinny dipping, just lying here naked with each other.  I mean, it's nice, but no one seems very unnerved by it."

            "Why should we?" TK wondered.

            "Well, Tai, aren't you worried about TK seeing Kari naked?"

            "Why should I be?  He's seen her naked before."  All of the newer digidestined stared at him.

            "We were trapped in the digital world for a long time," Izzy commented.  "At first, the seven of us were pretty self-conscious about it, but after a while, we realized that we had to be practical.  We started bathing together and everything, so now it just doesn't seem that unusual to us."

            "When Kari joined us after we bet Myotismon," Joe picked up, "we were back in the same boat as we were before, only with one more person.  At first we tried to keep the boys and girls separate, but after a while we just gave up and went back to the way we had been doing it before."

            "TK and Kari have seen each other naked dozens of times," Matt commented.  "The two of them were practically inseparable in the digital world and TK had promised Tai that he'd watch out for Kari.  He took his responsibilities fairly seriously," he laughed.  TK and Kari were both chuckling by now.

            "Remember when Tai first caught us bathing together?" Kari asked.

            "I don't think I'll ever forget that," Joe laughed.  "We had stopped for the night a week or so after we returned to the digital world.  Mimi had commented that Kari needed a bath earlier, so when we stopped to make camp Kari disappeared and so did TK.  Matt, Sora and Tai went looking for them and found both of them in a hot spring not to far from camp, dressed as they were at birth."  By now everyone was laughing.  "They rest of us came running when we heared Tai yell and found him yelling at the two of them while Sora and Matt were laughing their heads off.  Tai finally managed to calm down a little and asked TK what he thought he was doing, and with a perfectly straight face TK just said, 'Bathing.'"  This sent everyone into howls of laughter.

            The rest of the day went by with out incident.  The group finally put on some clothes after they had dried off sufficiently and sat down for another meal made up of what was left over from the first one.  They stayed in the digital world until it started to get dark, at which point they began to gather up their picnic supplies and began to get ready to leave.  Finally, Cody brought up something that had been bothering him.

            "Isn't it going to be hard to get out of here?" he worried.  "It wasn't easy finding this place when there was a lot of light, what about now that it's almost nighttime?"  Kari shrugged.

            "We never came here on foot anyway."  Cody still looked confused.  "We fly," she elaborated.

            "Or swim," Gomamon piped up.

            "But not all of our digimon can fly," Cody pointed out.

            "We'll handle it," TK assured him.  Then he turned to the waiting digimon.  "Ready guys?"  A chorus of 'Yeahs' confirmed it.  "Then lets get going."

Gomamon digivolve to … Ikkakumon! 

Betamon digivolve to … Seadramon!

Byiomon digivolve to … Birdramon!

Hawkmon digivolve to … Aquilamon!

Wormmon digivolve to … Stingmon!

Veemon digivolve to … Exveemon!

Tentomon digivolve to … Kabuterimon!

Patamon armor digivolve to … Pegasusmon!  Flying Hope!

Gatomon armor digivolve to … Nefertimon!  The Angel of Light!

            Everyone pilled onto one or another digimon and soon they were all flying or swimming across the lake towards Digitamamon's dinner.  They split up at the dinner, the Odiba digidestined going one way to use a TV to get home and the American going the other to get home.  The group emerged from Sora's computer at five in the afternoon.  They had left at eleven that morning.  TK and Matt began to gather up their belongings to leave.

            "Where are you guys going?" Ken asked.

            "Practice," TK shrugged.  "We've got to get ready for our concert."

            "Can I come along?" Kari asked.  She typically came along to practices, as did Sora.  TK and Matt were the only one's in the band with steady relationships, however, Jordan and Cale both liked Kari and Sora and welcomed their presence at practices.  As of such, TK's answer surprised her.

            "Not this time," he replied, shouldering his backpack.  Kari began to protest, but TK walked up to her and silenced her by placing his index finger on her lips.  "We need to get this practice in with no distractions.  You just don't need to be at this one."  Kari moved her head away from TK's hand.

            "Why not?" she challenged.  "I've been to a lot of your practices before, and you guys have done just fine.  So what's so special about this one?"

            "Please," TK pleaded.  The couple looked into each other's eyes for a few moments and finally TK won the battle of wills.

            "Alright," Kari pouted.  TK kissed her on the cheek and he and Matt left.

The rest of the month flew past for the digidestined as well as for all the fans of Children of the Night, TK and Matt's band.  The band had changed significantly from its original incarnation.  They still tended towards rock, but they were also known to delve into pop and even jazz from time to time.  The changes had been met with approval from their original fan base and had gained them even more fame.  
            The night of the concert finally came and the city of Odiba came alive.  As always, the digidestined had front row seats.  None of them had seen TK or Matt at all that day, which wasn't unusual for a concert day.

            This promised to be the biggest concert of the year, since the group had formally announced that this would be the last concert in the foreseeable future due to personal reasons.  As always, the digidestined meet in the park outside the TV studio so that they could all travel to the concert together.  Their mode was carefree and full of hope, since in five days, they would all be leaving for Kyoto.

            They arrived at the tent about an hour before the concert was to start.  Tickets had been sold out for days before hand, but there were still people trying to buy their way in.  The group showed their tickets and were escorted to their seats.

            "So, do either of you have any idea what the surprise is?" Mimi asked Sora, who sat next to her, and Kari who was next to Sora.

            "No idea," Sora admitted.

            "TK didn't want to tell me," Kari agreed.  "Whatever it is, it's something really special."  The interior lights began to dim and a deep base cord strummed through the crowd.  Dead silence reigned for several seconds before the curtain rose and the crowd began to cheer.

            TK was foremost on the stage as the main guitarist and vocals.  He was decked out in a pair of ripped blue jeans, black hiking boots, and a black tee-shirt with an oriental dragon print on the front.  Matt was next to TK as the base player, but back a little since TK was the one singing this song.  Matt was dressed in black jeans and a silk button up shirt that was blood red in color.  Jordan was back on the keyboard in jean-shorts and a green 7-up shirt.  Ryu was on the other side from the stage from Jordan on the drums.  He was dressed in a pair of jeans, but he was shirtless, showing off several of his tattoos.

            Their first song was greeted with resounding cheers and Matt took up singing duties for the second one.  The concert lasted over an hour, during which the band played mostly rock and heavy metal with a few pop pieces scattered through out.  The band played their final song of the night and then TK stepped up to the microphone.

            "We just want to thank everyone for coming out tonight.  This will be our last concert for the time being.  We all have worked so hard in the last year or so and we just need to calm down and spend some time with our family and friends.  You have all been a great crowd and we're really glad that our last concert was such a hit."  The crowd let out a roar of applause that took almost a minute to die down.  "Now we have a bit of an encore for you," TK continued.  "This song is an older piece and a lot of bands have done renditions of it, so we thought we'd take a crack at it.  It's different from what we usually play, but we hope you like it."  TK left the mic and walked back to where Matt was standing and the two exchanged a few words, then TK returned to the mic and began the open notes to the song.

_Sha la la la la la _

_La la la la la la _

_Sha la la la la la _

_La la la la la la _

_(I hear a song_

_It makes me think of a girl_

_I used to know…_

_I sing along when I hear it_

_on the radio now…)_

_Hey now where'd we go?_

_Yeah days when the rains came_

_Way down in the hollows_

_Oooh yeah playing a new game_

_Laughing and a running_

_hey hey hey_

_Skipping and a jumping_

_Hey yas_

_In the misty morning fog_

_Oh baby_

_Yeah my heart's a thumping you_

_My brown eyed girl_

_(my brown eyed girl…_

_my brown eyed girl)_

_You my_

_Brown eyed girl_

_Do you remember when?_

_(do you remember when?)_

_Yeah we used to sing…_

_Sha la la la la la _

_La la la la la la _

_Sha la la la la la _

_La la la la la la _

_(I hear a song_

_makes me think of a girl_

_I used to know)_

_Hey hey hey _

_(I sing along_

_When I hear it_

_on the radio now…)_

_Now that the years gone by_

_Yeah now that I'm on my own_

_I saw you just the other day_

_But my baby…you have grown_

_I cast my memory back there Lord_

_Sometimes…I am overcome_

_just thinking about it_

_Making love in the green grass_

_Behind the stadium with you_

_My brown eyed girl_

_You my_

_Brown eyed girl_

_(my brown eyed girl…_

_my brown eyed girl)_

_You my_

_Brown eyed girl_

_(my brown eyed girl…_

_my brown eyed girl)_

_You my_

_Brown eyed girl_

_Do you remember when?_

_Yeah we used to sing…_

_Sha la la la la la_

_La la la la la la _

_Sha la la la la la_

_La la la la la la _

_Sha la la la la la_

_La la la la la la _

_Sha la la la la la_

_La la la la la la _

_I hear a song_

_It makes me think of a girl _

_I used to know_

_Hey ya  hey ya  hey ya  hey_

_I sing along_

_When I hear it on the radio_

_Now_

_I sing along_

_When I hear it on the radio_

_Now_


	6. The Morning After

**Chapter 6**

            Matt groaned in pain as shafts of sunlight filtered through the curtains of the room.  His head was splitting and his mouth tasted like a sewage duct.  He tried to sit up, but that only made the pain in his head that much worse.  He lay there for a minute trying to remember where he was and why he was there.  After a moment of looking around, he recognized it as Sora's room.  He opened his eyes in response to the bed sagging and was greeted by the sight of Sora siting down next to him, dressed in a red kimono that perfectly matched her hair.

            "Take it easy," Sora giggled as Matt tried to sit up.  "Here," she handed him a glass of water and some aspirin.  "This should help your head."  Matt downed the pills and leaned back against the headboard.  After a few moments, his head began to clear and he managed to sit up.  Sora leaned over to the table next to the bed and grabbed some soup.  She handed one of the bowls to Matt and began to eat her own.  Matt took a taste of the soup and immediately recognized it as one of his own recipes.  They both ate in silence and Sora took their bowls when they were finished and put them back on the table.  She then leaned back into his embrace.  The two lay there for a while before Matt finally spoke up.

            "What happened last night that made me feel so terrible?"  Sora looked up at him, her emerald eyes twinkling with amusement.

            "You seriously don't remember?"

            "Cross my heart," Matt promised.

            "Well," Sora began to run her fingers lightly up and down Matt's naked chest, "after the concert, Kari and I went back stage to see you and TK.  The four of you were still cooling down and Jordan and Ryu were both ready to go clubbing.  You and I decided to go with them while TK and Kari vanished."  She paused and looked back up at him.  "How long were you guys working on that song?"

            "Not that long," Matt replied.  "One day at practice, TK just started playing it as a warm up song.  We all joined in and it just came naturally.  When we were done I suggested playing it at the concert, but TK was reluctant, since his relationship with Kari was low key then.  The day after the picnic in the digital world, when TK told Kari that she couldn't come?" he prompted.  Sora nodded.  "Well when we got to practice, he told us that he wanted to do the song as a finale.  We though it was a cool idea and started working on it."

            "Anyway," Sora continued, "you and I went out clubbing with the others.  We stayed out until about one and then we decided to come back here since Mom is out of town at a convention."  Sora smiled seductively.  "Of course, we didn't get to sleep for a few hours after we got back."  Matt smiled and pulled Sora down for a kiss.  The two lay like that for a few minutes.

            "When is your Mom due back?" Matt asked.

            "The convention was up in Kyoto, so she'll probably stop by to see dad.  That usually takes several days."

            "Good," Matt grinned and leaned over to kiss her.  They both stopped at the sound of the front door opening.  Their reactions were instinctive.  Sora grabbed Matt's boxers from where they were laying on the floor and tossed them to him.  He quickly pulled them on and pulled up the covers as Sora climbed into the bed.  Matt lay his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes, feigning sleep as Sora lay her head on his chest and pretended to be dozing just as the door to the bedroom door opened.

            "Sora, honey," Mrs. Takenouchi called out as she opened the bedroom door.  "Are you…"  She stopped as she caught sight of the bed and it's seemingly sleeping occupants.  Mrs. Takenouchi had long ago accepted Sora's relationship with this dark and brooding musician.  As she had come to know Matt more and more, she began to see through the mask that he put on for his adoring public just as Sora had.  She realized exactly how much Sora meant to him and how much Sora loved him.  She had also resigned herself to the fact that they were most likely having sex, but knew that there wasn't much that she could do to stop it.  She walked over to the bed and smiled down for a moment before speaking.

            "You just can't fake sleep honey.  You try too hard and your face isn't relaxed enough."  She paused for a moment.  "Neither can you Matt."  They both opened their eyes and smiled up at her.

            "Hi Mom," Sora greeted.  "We weren't trying to fake anything.  We just woke up and we didn't want to move."

            "That doesn't explain the soup," she pointed out.

            "You're home early," Matt observed, trying desperately to change the subject.

            "I brought home a surprise and I thought you would want to see it as soon as possible," she answered.  "Besides, the convention was boring," she admitted.  "Now get dressed and come down stairs."  With that she turned around and left.  The couple got up and got dressed.  Matt pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt from some clothes that he left at Sora's just in case.  Sora took of her kimono, revealing a pair of green panties and a matching bra.  She sorted through her closet for a moment and finally pulled on a pair of running shorts and a tank top.

            They padded down the hall hand in hand towards the living room.  The living room of the Takenouchi house had a small, almost quaint, atmosphere to it.  Sora's mother was seated on an easy chair facing them, while a man was seated on the couch facing her.  The two where chatting over tea, and there were two more cups waiting on the table.  Mrs. Takenouchi looked up and spotted them as they came into the room.

            "There you are, dear."

            "Mom, who is this?" Sora asked, indicating the man siting on the couch facing away from her.

            "I hate to think that it's been that long since I saw you last that you wouldn't recognize me," he replied, standing up and turning around.  Sora let out a squeal of delight and launched herself into his arms.

            "Dad!  It's great to see you again!  How long are you going to be staying?"

            "How does forever sound?"  Sora pulled away from him to look at his face.

            "Your coming back home?"

            "Yep.  All the preliminary research I needed to do is done.  I can finish most of my work here at home.  Besides, I was starting to really miss you and your mother."  Sora and her father sat down on the couch and began to get reacquainted.  Matt watched for a moment and then went back to Sora's room to pack up and leave.  He didn't want to interfere with Sora's reunion with her workaholic father.  He was glad that Sora's father was going to be back, but he wondered where that left him.  They were supposed to leave for the cabin in two days, but with her father returning for good, Matt wondered whether Sora might pass on the trip to get to know him better.  His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.  He turned to see Mrs. Takenouchi standing in the doorframe.

            "Is something wrong?" she asked, her concern evident on her face.

            "No, I just thought I should get going," Matt replied.

            "Why?"  It was pretty obvious that she wasn't just going to let this go.

            "I didn't want to interfere with their reunion.  I should really get going," he indicated the doorway that she was blocking.

            "She still loves you."

            "I know.  Look, I really need to go."  Mrs. Takenouchi sighed and moved out of the doorway.  Matt moved towards the entrance hall to get his shoes.

            "Matt," Sora's voice stopped him.  "Where are you going?"  He plastered a cheerful grin on his face and turned around to face her.

            "Just thought I'd head home, maybe cheek in on TK.  Leave you and your dad to reminisce with out me underfoot."

            "You aren't being underfoot," she protested.  "I love you and I want you to be here."  She took his hand and brought it up to her face.  His fingers began to gently trace a line along her cheek from her jaw to her eye and back.

            "I love you too.  But I need to go check on TK.  Mom's still away on her trip and I kind of want to keep an eye on him.  Especially after last night."  Sora raised an eyebrow in question.  "He and Kari disappeared kind of quickly last night."

            "Matt, they can take care of themselves," she chided. 

            "That doesn't mean that I don't want to protect them both."  He lightly kissed her and turned to leave.

            "I'm sorry," Sora whispered.  Matt stopped and turned around.

            "What could you possibly have to be sorry for?"

            "That my family is going to be together again while yours is still in ruins."  Matt walked back to her and kissed her on her forehead.

            "That's not your fault.  You don't need to be sorry for something that you have no control over."  As he walked out the door, he turned and looked directly into her eyes.  "I love you."  Sora nodded and smiled as he left.

            Kari woke slowly, her mind still clinging desperately to the comforting darkness of her dreams.  As her mind began to fight off the last remnants of dream induced fog she became aware of two things.  The first was that she was in TK's bed.  The second was that she was alone.  A part of her subconscious began to scream at her that this was not right.  As her conscious mind began to assert itself, she finally made out the sound of voices in the living room.  She pulled on a kimono that she kept at TK's and walked into the hall, still slightly drowsy.  As she entered the living room she immediately recognized both people in the room.  The first was TK.  The second was Nancy Takeshi, TK's mother.  TK got up from where he was sitting at the kitchen counter and came over to her.

            "I take it we're busted," Kari murmured into his ear as they hugged.

            "I love you," he whispered back.

            "We must be in even more trouble than I thought," she giggled.

            "If you two are done conspiring," Nancy broke in, "you need to sit down so that we can talk."  The couple moved over to the couch and sat down.  "Now I want to know everything.  How long have you two been…well…" she trailed off, her face beat-red.

            "How long have we been sleeping together?" TK asked innocently.  Nancy scowled at him but nodded.  "Since Kari first joined us in the digital world," he shrugged, his face still a portrait of innocence.  Nancy, however, had a look of pure horror on her face.

            "TK, that's cruel," Kari chided, trying to stifle her laughter.  "We all slept close by each other when we were in the digital world," she explained.  "TK was just trying to be funny."  Nancy looked relieved, and then annoyed as she turned to scrutinize TK.

            "And what, exactly, is there to joke about?"  TK leaned forward and took his mother's hands in his and looked directly into her eyes.

            "Mom," he began.  "I know that you worry about me, but Kari and I love each other.  The age of consent in Japan is thirteen, so what we're doing isn't illegal.  Even if you over look the fact that I'm physically almost nineteen and Kari is eighteen.  We don't have sex very often and we use protection every time that we do."

            "I've been on birth-control since last March," Kari added.  "Well before we began sleeping together."

            "We waited for a couple months before we started having sex, even though we knew that we wanted to.  We wanted to move carefully and now we've reached the point where we want to express to each other how much we love each other."

            "You've really thought this all out, haven't you?" Nancy quietly asked.  The expression on her face was thoughtful.

            "All the way," Kari replied, holding up her left hand.  A few rays of sunshine glittered off the gold band encircling her ring finger.  Nancy stared at it for a moment and then stood up and went around and hugged them both.

            "My baby's all grown up," she smiled looking down at him.  TK smiled back up at her.

            "So, you're not mad at us?" Kari asked.

            "You made it pretty clear that I can't stop you."  She smiled at them again.  "Now why don't you be a dear and make lunch while your fiancé and I talk."

            TK and Kari lay together in his bed that night.  TK had made a wonderful lunch and the two of them and Nancy had spent the rest of the afternoon talking.  Matt had come by later in the afternoon, just beating the rain storm that was now pouring rain on Odiba, and the four of them had eaten dinner together.  TK had tried calling his father, but had been unable to reach him.  He sighed and shifted slightly as he thought about his father.

            "Penny for your thoughts?"  TK looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms and smiled.

            "Sorry.  Didn't mean to wake you."  Kari chuckled and snuggled closer to his chest.

            "It's hard to wake up someone who isn't sleeping.  Now what's bothering you?"

            "Just thinking about dad.  I wish he could have made it to dinner.  It would have been nice to be a family again."

            "I'm sorry," Kari whispered.  "I know that it's hard on you but you just have to respect their wishes.  Your mom and dad still love you.  They just don't love each other enough to stay together."

            "So when do your parents get home?" TK asked to change the subject.

            "Tomorrow," Kari sighed.  "Then I have to start sleeping alone again."

            "We have to," TK reminded her.  "My mom wasn't that thrilled about the fact that we sleep together.  Your parents are much more protective of you."

            "What if we didn't wait," Kari whispered.

            "No.  No way.  We are NOT ready to get married yet Kari.  We aren't even out of school yet."

                "I wasn't thinking of marrying just yet," Kari defended.  "What if we just started living together."

            "How?  I'm the only one of us with a constant source of income, and that just dried up."

            "There has to be a way!"  Kari pounded her hands against his chest.  "I don't want to be separated from you anymore," she whispered as tears began to run down her cheeks.  TK lifted his hand up and wiped her tears away.

            "I wish that there was too," he whispered in her ear.  The two lay there, listening to the rain hit the window.

            Tai lay awake, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the windows, wondering where the downward spiral of his life had begun.  He and Sora had always been best friends.  He had expected them to be a couple as soon as they were old enough.  Instead, now she was all over the news on the arm of Matt Ishida.  His little sister was physically intimate with her boyfriend, TK Takeshi.  Matt's brother.  For a brief moment, his mind blamed all of his problems on the two brothers.  If they hadn't come along, then everything would be fine.  Then his rational mind took over.  If it hadn't been for Matt and TK, they would have been screwed in the digital world.  And TK made Kari happy.  Completely happy.  That was probably the only reason that he hadn't told their parents yet.  TK made Kari happy.  Matt made Sora happy.  He was just left out in the cold.

            He turned over and punched his pillow in disgust.  Losing Sora was probably his own fault.  Their had been enough times when he could have said or done something, but he was always sure that they were still too young.  But she hadn't thought so.  He had waited too long, and so she had moved on to another.  If only he had actually lived up to his crest.  He was a coward.  He couldn't tell the woman he loved how he felt in time, and now it was too late.  
            "What's bothering you Tai?"  Tai rolled over to look at the orange T-rex sitting on the floor by his bed.

            "Nothing, Agumon."

            "Really?  Because you've been kind of quiet and you just sit there.  That usually means that your trying to think and that means that something's bothering you.  So what's bothering you."

            "Nothing is bothering me," Tai asserted.

            "Wow, nothing must be really important for you to spend so much thought on it."  Agumon looked at Tai for a moment.  "This wouldn't have anything to do with Matt and Sora, would it?"  Tai had the good manners to look ashamed.

            "You aren't still beating yourself up about Sora being with Matt, are you?  I thought that you were happy for them?"

            "I am," Tai protested.  "But I wish that she were with me," he admitted.

            "Well, why don't you tell her how you feel?" Agumon protested.  "The worst that can happen is that she won't feel the same way about you, and you stay friends."

            "Maybe," Tai relented.  "I just don't know how to tell her."

            "I can't help you there," Agumon admitted.

            The two remained silent for the rest of the night as they listened to the sound of the rainfall.

            Sora lay in her bed, thinking of everything that had happened to her recently as the rain fell across Odiba.  She was ecstatic that her father was coming home, but she knew that her parents still had some issues to work out.  She wasn't sure that she should really be around as they worked that out.  For the second time that day, she entertained the notion of moving in with Matt.  His father wasn't home that often, and she could help around the house a lot.  And it wasn't like sleeping arrangements would be a problem.  She smiled as she remembered how gentle Matt had been last night.  She stretched as she snuggled deeper into her bed as she prepared to fall asleep.  Glancing at her nightstand, she noticed that the drawer was slightly open, and the red box that she and Matt kept there was in sight.  She leaned over to close the drawer, but stopped when a thought came to her.  She took out the box and checked.  Empty.  Her face paled as she remembered that she had meant to replace it two days ago, but had run out of money.  She couldn't remember whether Matt had had one on him or not.  Sora finally fell asleep, wondering whether or not they had used protection, and what it might mean for their relationship.


End file.
